
Book ,S T ST 



THE engraving on the following page was made from a 
drawing by an English gentleman who visited Mr. 
Jeremiah W^der, February 23, 1832. The view is from a 
point direct!) :i front of what is now the Mitchell-Thomas 
Hospital, looking westward. The most prominent building 
in the center is the old Werden House, now Henry Block. 
On the right is the old Court House. The residence on the 
left was the first house occupied by Jeremiah Warder, now 
the home of the Misses Burrowes, East High St., opposite 
Christ's Episcopal Church The view in the foreground 
was on the line of the National Road, then in process of 
construction. 



THE 



Centennial Celebration 



OF 



SPRINGFIELD, 



OHIO, 



Held August 4th to loth, 



1 90 1. 



BENJAMIN F. FRINGE, ErnTOK. 



ASA S. BUSHNELL, 
BENJ. F. PRINCE, 
R. S. THOMPSON, 

Publishing Committee. 



SPRINGFIELD PUBLISHING CO. 
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 




General Centennial Committee. 



PREFACE. 



A hundred years in the Hfe of a community which has had 
a prosperous and successful growth, is worth reviewing. During 
that time there may have been some occurrences of more than 
ordinary character which will be interesting to those who read 
of them in narrative form ; but the most forceful and productive 
of all agencies in advancing the condition of a people are the 
common, well-directed, every-day actions and employments which 
they have industriously pursued. 

The best growth in the life of a nation, city or town arises 
from normal conditions ; the abnormal, unusual, or spasmodic, 
rather retard advancement than further it. Great events are often 
useful in shaking off lethargy and arousing to new actions and 
enlargfed views, but there must follow the steady and quiet pur- 
suit of the various occupations to bring lasting results. 

The addresses and papers contained in this volume set forth 
the simple story of a city which has had great success, especially 
during the last fifty years. The reasons for its advance have been 
told by the writers in the narration of plain facts which show 
nothing unusual in the experience of the builders of Springfield, 
unless it be tlie steady and persistent efforts which have charac- 
terized them in the business or occupation to which they gave 
the energies of their life. The lesson to he learned from these rec- 
ords w^ill be of great value to those who are to follow in the va- 
rious professions and employments that belong to our city, giv- 
ing inspiration and confidence in the work which each one has 
chosen. 

The advance of Springfield has not only been noted in mate- 
rial lines, but its churches, schools of all grades, together with 



the professions, have kept pace with the growing city. Its minis- 
ters, its lawyers, its physicians, and its teachers, are among the 
best of the land, and they have kept steadily in view progress in 
good morals, the administration of justice, the alleviation of suf- 
fering by the newest discoveries in medical science, and the train- 
ing of those who attend the various schools by the most approved 
methods recognized by the best educators of the world. With 
the vantage ground gained in many fields after a century of hard 
and persistent labor, and with the spirit that animates all our 
people always to put forth their best efforts, Springfield enters 
the second century of its history with cheering prospects for 
splendid achievements. 



CONTENTS. 

I. Introduction. Founding of Springfield, ----- 17 

II. Preparation for the Centennial. The Committees. 

The Program, ----.--------25 

III. Religious Day. Origin of Churches and Other Religious 

Organizations in Springfield, Isaac Kay, M. D. - - 35 

IV. Formal Opening Day. Introductory Address, Judge 

F. M. Hagan. 
A Century of Commercial Life, Hon. 0. F. Hypes. 
Incorporation of Springfield and City Government, D. Z. 

Gardner, Esq. 
Our Manufacturing Interests, Hon. W. S. Thomas, - - 80 

V. Pioneer Day. Introductory Address, A. P. L. Coch- 

ran, Esq. 
Bench and Bar, Judge William M. Rockel. 
History of the Medical Profession of Clark County, 

Henry M. Seys, M. D. 

Pioneer Meeting. Address, Mr. William M. Harris. 

Address, Mrs. George H. Frankenberg, ----- 134 

VI. Military Day. Campfires and Military Maneuvers, 

General J. Warren Keifer. 
Address, Governor George K. Nash. 
Address, Colonel James Kilbourne. 
Address, Governor A. S. Bushnell, - - 184 



VII. Fraternal Day. Data Concerning Secret Societies, 

Mr. P. M. Cartmell. 
The Printing and Publishing Interests of Springfield, 
Mr. C. M. Nichols, ----------- 211 

Adjoiinied Pioneer Meeting. 

VIII. Agricultural and Labor Day. Past, Present and 

Future Interests of Agriculture in Clark County, Mr. 
Julius C. Williams. 
History of the Labor Organizations in Springfield, Mr. 
T. J. Creager. ------------- 227 

IX Woman's Day and Educational Interests. Intro- 
ductory Address, Mrs. F. M. Hagan. 

The Work of the Women of Springfield in the Civil 
War, Mrs. C. M. Nichols. 

Woman's Work for Love, Mrs. A. M. Winger. 

History of the Women's Clubs of Springfield, Mrs. E. 
L. Buchwalter. 

Temperance in Springfield, Mrs. George H. Frankenberg. 

A Resume of the Century's Educational Work in Spring- 
field, Professor W. H. Weir, -------- 251 

X. The Log Cabin. Daughters of the American Revolu- 
tion, Miss Mary Cassilly. 
Final Report of Executive Committee, ------ 292 




v. M. CARTMELL. 

Chr. Com. Fraternal Organizations. 




MRS. F. M. HAGAN. 

Chr. Com. on woman's work ano Organi- 
zations. 



T. J. CREAGER. 

Chr. Com. on Labor and Labor Organi- 
zations. 




GEN. GLuKijfc ROGERS CLARK. 

General George Rogers Clark was born in Albemarle County, Virginia in 1752. 
In 1776 he went to Kentucky to make his permanent home. He there became a leader 
in m^any military expeditions. In 1778 he conducted a small force against the British 
post, Kaskaskia, in what is now Illinois, and in the early part of 1779, against 
Vincennes, in what is now Indiana. These places were seized, and this fact gave 
the claim, on the part of the Americans, to the North West Territory, which was 
afterwards secured to the United States by the treaty of 1783. 

In 1780, General Clark led a force of about one thousand men against the Indians, 
located on Mad River. On the eighth of August, 1780, he defeated the Indians 
at Fort Piqua, a spot five miles west of Springfield. The battle was of much con- 
sequence to the settlers of Kentucky. In 1817 when our county was created, it 
was named in honor of General Clark, whose exploits were of so much conse- 
quence, not only to the West, but also to the Nation. 



SPRIN3FIELD, OHIO. 
I 

FOUNDING OF SPRINGFIELD. 



In the year 1799 James Deinint, a Kentuckian, found his 
\\a\- to tlie region now known as Springfield. He was pleased 
with the fertile soil, with the outcrop of limestone suitahle for 
building- purposes, with the streams near by well adapted for 
power, and with the many fine springs which flowed from almost 
every hill side and projecting rock, a sight ever pleasing to the 
pioneer. He resolved to make his abode here, and chose as the 
place for his cabin a spot of ground which lies at the foot of the 
hill on w hich now stands the Northern School Building. Near by 
was a spring- that furnished agreeable water, and in front of his 
lonely dwelling flowed the then clear stream, Buck Creek, while 
on everv side were the huge forest trees which nuist be cleared 
away before anything could be done toward planting the seed 
for the much-needed harvest. 

For almost two years Demint led a loncl}- life. Tliere were 
few neighbors then. Robert Lowrey and Jonathan Donnell were 
located six or seven miles to the west, while Simon Kenton, the 
hero of many adventures among the Indians, and John Hum- 
phreys were several miles distant. 

To the mind of Demint the place he had selected for his home 
was favorable for a town site. Nature had done much to make 
it suitable, and its distance from other villages which had hitherto 
been the basis of supplies for the few but necessary articles inci- 
dent to pioneer life, seemed to warrant the establishment of a new 
town here. 

In March, 1801, Demint secured the services of John Daugh- 
erty, a surveyor, who made a plat reaching from the creek south- 
ward to a point where High street is now located, eastward a half 
square beyond Spring street, and westward to Fisher street. 
There were ninety-six lots in the plat, all offered, no doubt, on 
easv terms, to any who might chance to seek investments of that 



18 CENTENNIAL OF 

kind. The center of the plat was the square now occupied by the 
Court House, County Buildhigs and the Soldiers' Monument. 

In June, 1801, the first house was erected on the new town 
site by Griffith Foos, who had migrated from Kentucky. It was 
used for a number of years for a tavern, where hospitality usual 
for the times was dispensed to all travelers. It was not long until 
other houses were built ; families were continually added to the 
community, and the town soon began to assume an air of progress 
and dignity. 

Springfield was planted near the border line fixed between 
the Indians and the white people. Though Wayne's treaty of 
1795 had determined many points about which disputes had hith- 
erto arisen, the Indians were continually dissatisfied, and ex- 
pressed the same in various w-ays to the annoyance of the pio- 
neers. They roamed over the country, they were passionately 
fond of strong drink, quarrelsome, often appropriated the prop- 
erty of the farmers to their own use, and at times were disposed to 
take the life of some lonely traveler. Such an event occurred in 
the killing of one Myers, fifteen miles north of this place. In con- 
sequence of it feeling ran high. A council of Indians and whites 
was held in Springfield in 1807, at which the celebrated Tecumseh 
was present and made speeches, in which he denied that his peo- 
ple were the offenders, but that the murder was committed by a 
band of marauding Indians. Such alarms kept away from the 
new settlement many who desired to come, but who were unwill- 
ing to expose themselves and families to the murderous tomahawk 
and scalping knife of the cruel savage, and it also caused some 
who were already settlers to retrace their steps and locate in places 
more distant from the dividing line between the hostile nations. 

From 1806 to 1812 the Indians continuously manifested a 
hostile disposition toward the pioneers. They w^ere greatly of- 
fended to see the new settlements made upon the lands once domi- 
nated by their fathers. In 1813 Tecumseh and his brother, the 
prophet, prepared a plan by which all the settlements of South- 
western Ohio were to be laid in ruins, the people slain, and the 
territory to be reclaimed for the savages. The refusal of a few 
tribes to enter into the compact defeated the plan and, perhaps, 
saved from bloody destruction the little village of Springfield. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 19 

At that time the inhabitants of this region were few, and many of 
the men were serving- in the army in the Northwest, so that a 
suddeti descent of the exasperated Indians could have done much 
harm. P)Ut that fate was happily averted. 

Though the Indian was still a visitor among the white set- 
tlements after the war of 1812, he came with a different air. He 
had taken his chances and lost ; his leaders and his brothers were 
among the slain ; new boundaries marked the point of separation 
between him and his white neighbor, and he never sought again 
to reclaim the territory of Ohio for his own. The war being over, 
Springfield settled down to a new life, free from dangers from 
without, and ready to undertake the hard struggle but promising 
outcome which was the experience and expectation of all settlers 
in those days. The growth of the town was slow. After two dec- 
ades the census could find only a little more than five hun- 
dred people within its limits There was not much in those times 
that the town could afford which the surrounding country needed ; 
every man on his farm could supply his own wants from his la- 
bors in the field. The home was a factory for the production of 
implements of all kinds and the preparation of almost all the nec- 
essary supplies of clothing without the aid of the manufacturer 
or the shop-keeper. It was only when pursuits began to be diver- 
sified that the town began to grow. Then artisans found a place 
to ply their trade and the merchant found his field of usefulness 
and of gain increasing. Yet from the very beginning of its his- 
tory Springfield gave evidence of its future line of development. 
Flouring, woolen, and carding mills were ea'rly built, their owners 
taking advantage of the streams to furnish power for driving the 
machinery. This at once attracted attention to communities far 
and near, whose people came to secure the advantages these mills 
afforded. These visits were of great benefit also to the store- 
keeper, for it brought to him purchasers from distant as well as 
near-by settlements, who in turn still further spoke to their neigh- 
bors and friends of the opportunities that the town gave to all. 

As the years passed by, new and varied interests were de- 
manded, and the citizens of Springfield were found ready to ex- 
pand their facilities to meet the growing wants of society. Their 
spirit of enlargement and enterprise has always been ready and 



20 CENTENNIAL OF 

willing, and by it there has been built up the great and varied 
manufacturing concerns that abound to-day. Without the oppor- 
tunities afforded by the location and these supported and enlarged 
by the spirit of the founders and their successors, our city would 
not have advanced to its present dimensions, but have remained a 
country town no larger than the country immediately around it 
would support. 

With the planting of the town there sprang up the Church 
and the School, necessary aids to the moral and intellectual 
growth of any community. Private schools, academies, female 
seminaries and college have been established and received the 
support of the people. All these institutions have contributed 
much to the spirit, intelligence and prosperity of Springfield. 
Along with these has grown up the Public Library, which has be- 
come a source of great pleasure and profit to the people, and 
scarcely second to none of the features that exist for the benefit 
of all. But the best of all things we have is the spirit of enter- 
prise that characterizes our citizens. \\'ithout it no progress 
could Ije made in the many avenues that are opened up to us for 
trade, and for the arts of production. In importance it is far 
above all material or commercial interests and advantages. It 
helps to conquer dii^culties. seeks out and enters new fields and, 
if such a thing be possible, brings success anywhere and ever\-- 
where. For a hundred years that spirit has been fostered, and it 
will be with us, no doubt, for another cen.tury. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



31 




Old City Hall. Erected 1848. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



23 





New Cit.v Hiiil(liiiu> lOrected 1 !?i^S-f)0. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 25 

II 

PREPARATION FOR THE CENTENNIAL- 



COMMITTEES, PROGRAM. 

The proposition to hold a Centennial in honor of the com- 
pletion of one hunderd years in the life and growth of Springfield 
was first made in the Clark County Historical Society, early in 
1900. After due consideration the Society concluded that the 
movement should take a broad scope and be made an affair of 
the citizens of our city, and for that purpose a general meeting 
should be called to consider its feasibility and its importance. 

To make such a call more impressive and urgent upon the 
people, it was sent forth over the following signatures : 

B. F. Prince, President of the Clark County Historical So- 

ciety. 

C. J. P.owLUS, Mayor of Springfield. 

Joseph Spangenberger, President of the City Council. 

John W. Burk, President of the Board of Trade. 

W. H. ScH.\us,, President of the Commercial Clul). 

This invitation brought together a goodly number of citi- 
zens in the Council Chamber on the evening of March 13, 1900. 
The object of the meeting being fully stated, there followed a 
free and full discussion of the advisability of observing the city's 
centennial in a manner becoming its importance and worthy of 
the character of a community which had achieved as much suc- 
cess as fell to the lot of Springfield. The concluson was reached 
that it was eminently proper to oljserve the event with its appro- 
priate ceremonies. To carry out this view it was voted to ap- 
point a General Committee of Seven who should have charge of 
the celebration, fixing the time for holding it, appointing all sub- 
committees, and looking after all necessary details that would be 
connected with so important a project. 

The committee appointed was composed of the following per- 
sons : Judge F. M. Hagan, Professor B. F. Prince, Dr. John H. 
Rodgers, Captain F. L. Buchwalter, Mr. John Foos, Mr. W. H. 



25 CENTENNIAL OF 

Schaus. and Mr. D. O. Fox. The committee held its first meet- 
ing- March 13, 1900, in the rooms of the Commercial Club, at 
which place, through the kindness of the members of that club, 
all l)ut two of the numerous sul^sequent meetings were held. 
Judge F. M. Hagan was elected President, R. F. Prince Secretary 
and D. Q. Fox Treasurer. 

After its organization the committee began to lay plans for 
the proper celebration of the anniversary, and which it greatly 
desired to make worthy of so great an occasion. It outlined and 
discussed various ways, but reached its final conclusion with great 
unanimity of sentiment. 

C)n March 29th the General Committee decided on the fol- 
lowing subjects, each to be committed to the care of a special 
committee, afterwards named as follows : 

City Government, with Its Departments — C. J. Bowlus, 
Chairman ; D. Z. Gardner, R. O. King, A. R. Ludlow, J. S. El- 
liott, M. L. Milligan. 

The Bar — A. P. L. Cochran, Chairman ; J. F. McGrew, Os- 
car T. Martin, John L. Zimmerman. John L. Plummer. 

The Medical Profession — Dr. H. H. Seys, Chairman; 
Dr. J. M. Miller, Dr. J. M. Buckingham, Dr. R. B. House, Dr. C. 
W. Russell. 

Religious Organizations — George H. Fullerton, D. D., 
Chairman ; Rev. Father W. H. Sidley, C. W. Barnes, D. D., 
Charles S. Kay, David H. Bauslin, D. D., Charles E. Folger, 
Chandler Robbins, Rev. N. H. Talbott. 

The Press — R. S. Thompson, Chairman; Clifton M. Nich- 
ols, Harry E. Rice, James A. Linn, Walter Harrison, T. E. Har- 
wood, L. Weixelbaum. 

Education — Prof. John S. Weaver, Chairman ; Prof. Carey 
Boggess, Prof. Charles G. Heckert, D. D., Prof. A. E. Taylor, 
Mrs. L. B. Earnest, Miss Alice M. Slower. Prof. R. J. Nelson, 
Prof. William H. Weir. 

Commercial Interests — O. F. Hypes, Chairman ; P. E, 
Bancroft, Edward Wren, E. B. Hopkins, S. B. Stiles, H. L. Saw- 
yer, Henry Wiseman, George K. Sharpe. 

Manufactures — Governor Asa S. Bushnell, Chairman ; O. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 27 

S. Kelly, Frank R. Packham, Frank M. Bookwalter, W. S. Thom- 
as, P. E. Montanus, S. E. Baker. 

Labor and Labor Organizations— T. J. Creager, Chair- 
man; George P. Gates. James S. Stimmel, D. C. Lawrancc, Jacob 

Miller. ^ 

.Agriculture— R. L. Holman, Chairman; J. C. Williams, 
John H. Blose, James Hatfield, William Jenkins, Silas Printz. 
George Reid, Eli Hunter, Joseph Detrick, Colonel M. Cheney. 

Fraternal Organizations— Pearl M. Cartmell, Chairman ; 
John Parsons, Zachary Taylor, L. ^I.' Harris, H. L. Schaeffer. 

The Military— General J. Warren Keifer, Chairman; 
Colonel Charles Anthony, Captain Mark A. Smith, James A. 
Dicus, W. R. Burnett. 

Women's Work and Organization.s— Mrs. F. M. Hagan. 
Chairman ; Miss Jessie Good, Miss Henrietta Moore, Mrs. W. F. 
Werheim, Miss Mae McCormick, Mrs. Harry Bean, Mrs. H. G. 
Marshal, Mrs. T. T- Kirkpatrick, Mrs. W. H. Grant, Mrs. E. N. 
Lupfer, Mrs. J. H. Rabbitts, Mrs. R. S. Thompson, Mrs. T. J. 
Casper, Mrs. H. S. Bradley, Miss Eva Carson. 

On December 3d the various committees were called to meet 
with the General Committee, at which time the general work of the 
Centennial was discussed and the special duties of each committee 
were outlined. It was desired that each committee should have an 
early meeting, form its plans of operation, and appoint some one 
to prepare a paper giving an account of the origin and develop- 
ment of the particular interests embraced within the title of the 
committee. At an adjourned meeting held December i8th most 
of the special committees reported, showing that now the real 
work in preparation for the celebration was in progress. At this 
meeting also a full discussion of what the celebration ought to be 
was had. It indicated that a number of persons were givmg 
thought to the work and were desirous to make the event worthy 

of our city. 

From this time forward the chairman of each special com- 
mittee was called to meet with the General Committee, which 
brought the various departments into close touch with the general 
management, and showed where pressure, if needed, should be 
applied. 



28 CENTENNIAL OF 

The time of holding' the celebration was orginally fixed for 
the first week in September, 1901, but owing to Labor Day, State 
Fair, and other interests occurring at that time, it became neces- 
sary to change the date, which was finally fixed from August 4th 
to loth, the first day to be Religious Day, at which time the paper 
on the religious organizations of the city would be read. 

At the beginning of February the matter of meeting the ex- 
penses incurred in the matter of carrying forward the work came 
up for discussion. As a result Governor A. S. Bushnell, Mr. 
John Foos and Mr. D. Q. Fox were appointed to nominate a Fi- 
nance Committee, who should secure the funds necessary for the 
enterprise. They subsequently reported the following names : 
E. L. Buchwalter, Chairman ; W. H. Schaus, C. J. Bowlus, Charles 
H. Pierce, Robert Johnson, O. F. Hypes, Charles W. Constantine, 
Pearl M. Cartmell, Henry Wiseman, Theodore L. Troupe, Wil- 
liam Kleeman, W. F. Foos, John W. Burk. D. F. Snyder. J. S. 
Crowell, Herman Voges, Sr., H. J. Rober, James S. Stimmel, R. 
L. Holman, J. B. Cartmell, E. B. Hopkins. 

The Nominating Committee also brought in a budget of ex- 
penses, which served well as a guide for the amount of money to 
be raised. The same committee, at a subsequent meeting, was 
made an Executive Committee, to whom all matters of contract 
and detail were referred. They proved themselves most efficient 
in the management of all that pertained to the celebration and were 
ready at all times to direct and give advice to those who de- 
sired it. 

To further advance the practical work of the Centennial, a 
Director General, in the person of Mr. L Ward Frey, was ap- 
pointed. Mr. Frey at once entered upon his duties, secured head- 
quarters, a clerk, and such appHances as were necessary to a vigor- 
ous and effective management. He was unremitting in his labors 
and the success of the celebration gave proof of his efficiency and 
wise judgment. 

To make the Centennial more instructive and entertaining, 
it was decided to secure an old log cabin and move it to the 
grounds, or construct a new one after the fashion of those that 
were built a century ago. The latter project was alone found 
feasible, and a double log cabin was Iniilt, covered with clapboards, 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



39 



supplied with clay and stick chimneys, and in its furnislnngs made 
to appear as nearly as possible like those of olden tunes. Its care 
was given to the local chapter of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, who gathered many relics of the past with which they 
adorned the cabin and made it attractive to the many thousands of 
visitors who entered its doors. The Daughters had various sou- 
venirs which were sought for by many to keep as a reminder ot 
a happy event in their experience, made so largely by the open 
hospitality of the ladies who had the place in charge. 

The final program for Centennial Week was as follows : 



SUNDAY, AUGUST 4. 

RELIGIOUS DAY. 
Rev. George H. FiiUcrton, D. D., Chairman. 
Exercises at 2 -.30 p. m., at the Fair Grounds. 
Doxoloo-v— 'Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow." 

Invocadon By Rev. W. H. Sidley 

Anthem ^^/'' ^''°A' 

Reading of Scriptures By S. F. Breckenridge, D. D. 

Prayer By Rev. C. M. Van Pelt 

Hymn— "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" By the Lhoir 

Historical Paper— "Origin of the Churches and Other Relig- 
ious Organizations of the City and Clark County" 

By Dr. Isaac Kay 

Hymn— "My Countr)^ 'Tis of Thee" By the Choir 

Benediction By Rev. A. C. McCabe, D. D. 

(Music for these services was furnished by an old-fashioned 
choir of five hundred voices.) 



MONDAY, AUGUST 5. 

FORMAL OPENING DAY. 

Governor A. S. Bushnell, Chairman. 
Parade at 10:30 a. m. of all City Officials, Police and Fire Depart- 
ments, Manufacturers and Commercial Interests. 



■30 CENTENNIAL OF 

An Exhibition by the Pohce and Fire Departments at the Fair 

Grounds. 

Opening Address By Judge F. M. Hagan 

Paper — "A Century of Commercial Life" By O. F. Hypes 

Paper — "Incorporation of Springfield and City Government". . 

By D. Z. Gardner 

Paper — '"Our Manufacturing Interests : History and Present 

Conditions" By W. S. Thomas 



TUESDAY, AUGUST 6. 

PIONEER DAY. 

A. P. L. Cochran, Esq., Chairman. 

Paper— "Bench and Bar". . By Hon. William M. Rockel 

Paper — "History of the Medical Profession of Clark County" 

By Dr. H. H. Seys 

Interesting" speeches by some of the first and oldest settlers of 

Clark County. 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7. 

MILITARY DAY. 

General J. IV. Kcifer, Chairman. 

Parade at 10:30 a. m. of all soldiers' and sailors' organizations 

and soldiers of all wars of Clark County. 
Address — "Camp Fires and Military Maneuvers" 

Bv General Keifer 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 8. 

FRATERNAL DAY. 

Judge F. M. Hagan, Chairman. 
Paper — "Fraternal Organizations" By P. M. Cartmell 



SPRINCJFIELD, OHIO. 31 

Exhibition Drills 

By Bovs and Girls of Masonic, I. O. O. F. and Pythian Homes 

Display of Secret Societies By Uniformed Ranks 

Paper— "The rrcss" By Clifton M. Nichols 



FRIDAY, AUGUST 9. 

LABOR AND AGRICULTURE DAY. 

R. L. Holman, Chairman. 

Parade by all labor organizations of the city. 

Paper — "Labor and Labor Organizations" By T. J. Creager 

Paper— "Early Agriculture in Clark County". .By J. C. Williams 



SATURDAY, AUGUST 10. 

EDUCATIONAL AND WOMANS' DAY. 
MORNING. 

Mrs. F. M. Hagan, Chairman. 

Display by Members of City and County Schools. 

Paper— "\\'oman's Clubs" By ^Irs. E. L. Bucliwalter 

Paper — "Women's \\'ork for Charity" 

By Mrs. Amaziah Winger 

Paper — "'Woman's \\'ork in the Civil War" 

By Mrs. Clifton ^L Nichols 

AFTERNOON. 

Prof. John S. Weaver, Chairman. 

Paper — "A Centurv of Educational Work in Springfield" .... 
' By Prof. W. H. Weir 



Various displays were made on the Fair Grounds indicative 
of the growth and prosperity of Springfield and Clark County 



32 CENTENNIAL OF 

]\Ianv of the manufacturing- 'firms were well represented in the 
new hall, built partly for this exhibition, with all kinds of machin- 
ery, the products of their factories. Along with the new imple- 
ments of splendid make there were others that were built thirty, 
forty, and even fifty years ago. Some were exhibited that have 
been in* use for nearly thirty years, and still doing good work, 
showing the good quality of the material used in their construc- 
tion and the scientific principles upon whch they were built — facts 
for which Springfield machinery has long been famous. The older 
machinery was much more clumsy and much heavier than that of 
recent make ; neither was it capable of so many uses as that made 
at present The old could perform a single operation. If a 
reaper, it could cut the grain ; in the next process it could throw it 
ofif in bundles for the binders who followed; but now, in addition. 
it can do the binding and drop the sheaves in bunches, as conven- 
ience may demand. The evolution of machines for lightening 
man's toils, a process that has its great history in the last one hun- 
dred years, and has experienced most of its advancement in the 
last twenty-five, is one of the wonders of mankind. Springfield, 
through its inventors and manufacturers, has had a great part in 
this wonderful evolution, which could be seen in the contrast be- 
tween the machinery made forty and fifty years ago and that pro- 
duced in recent years. 

' Another display that received much attention from visitors 
was that made by the Clark County Historical Society. There 
were many specimens in the collection of the art of prehistoric 
man, showing the implements which served him in war and in 
peace, and which indicated the hard life that befell him when he 
was born into this world. The utilizing of the forces of nature to 
serve man's wants, such as are used to-day, were unknown to him. 
and a life of mere animal force was about as much as he knew in 
his experience. 

Of the things representing the methods and means used by 
the pioneers to supply their wants, there were many articles. Con- 
spicuous among them was the plow with wooden mold-board and 
iron point, which in the loose, virgin soil, served well the farmer 
in breaking up the ground ; the sickle with which he cut his gram ; 
the flail with which he beat out the kernel ; the hominy mortar, 



SPRINfiFIELD, OHIO. 33 

made in this case from a walnut tree, in which the pioneer put his 
corn, poured over it boihn"- water, and then with an iron wedge 
placed in a handle for a pestle, beat or stamped it until the leathery 
coating- of each grain was removed, and was then ready for the 
house-keeper's art; the flax break, the hackle, the little spinning 
wheel, implements necessary to produce the thread out of which 
linen was made for many kinds of domestic use ; the crane which 
swung in the old-fashioned chimney, and which, hung with va- 
rious kettles, was readily adjusted over the fire; and many other 
things that showed something of the life of our ancestors. Though 
these methods were far inferior to those of our day, yet those who 
used them were as happy as we. and wrought their w^ork in gain- 
ing a livelihood and in building up the forces of society with great 
contentment of mind. Those who lived in those far-ofif days, and 
who have lingered long enough to experience something of the 
great improvements of our times, have kept pace well with the 
great strides that the last twenty-five years have made, showing 
that it is not the things that men possess that make them great and 
noble, but their spirit and aspirations which lead them to adapt 
themselves to the times and circumstances under which they 
live. 

One of the finest and most suggestive displays was that pre- 
sented by the City Schools. There were drawings, pictures, maps- 
all free hand, commencing with the lowest grades and ascending 
to the highest. That many of them could be made without any 
measuring instrument other than the eye, was a wonder to all 
who saw them. Some of the maps seemed as perfect as though 
made by the most delicate machinery. There were no examples 
of what the children of early times could do. It is more probable 
that they did little in the field of map-drawing, but spent their time 
in learning to read, write, and cipher. That some of them learned 
to be good pensmen, an investigation of the earlier records of the 
Recorder's office will clearly show. But nothing like the school 
display in the building set apart for it in Centennial Week was 
ever dreamed in the days of pioneer life. 

An attempt was made to gather all books printed in Clark 
County or written by one of its inhabitants. A fair and worth) 
collection was made, but it was impossible under the conditions 



34 CENTENNIAL OF 

to gather all. But the number displayed was a surprise to many. 
They did not know that our people had been so active in produc- 
ing books, some of them of great historical value ; others poetical 
and literary, and others again belonging to travels and to the 
class of novels. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 35 

III 

RELIGIOUS DAY. 



The first service of the Centennial was held on Sunday, Au- 
gust 4th, and, appropriately, was religious in character. The large 
gathering held in a mammoth tent erected on the Fair Grounds 
showed that the people were interested, and was a prophecy of 
the success of the celebration. About five thousand people were 
crowded into the tent, who were eager listeners to the rendering 
of the program elsewhere given. The large choir, under the di- 
rection of Mr. George H. Linn, rendered a number of old hymns 
and anthems popular a half century ago. They carried the minds 
of the older people present back to the days of their youth and 
made them feel that they were living again in a period that has 
long since become a dream. Dr. George H. Fullerton, the Chair- 
man of the day, appropriately said : 

"It is certainly fitting to recognize the hand of God after lie 
has given us this beautiful city, which we call home. It is fitting 
to begin this week by a religious service of this kind. Religion 
is the foundation of morality. You can have no stable morality 
without religion. No city, no family, no State, can live without 
moralty. It is fitting that we first recognize God. 

"We meet under circumstances dififerent from those under 
Avhich our fathers met one hundred years ago. Yet they sang the 
same songs; worshiped the same God and had the same object in 
view that we have to-day. The forests and the groves were their 
temples in the summer. They enjoyed what we enjoy. They 
lived under the same blessing of God and the same prosperity that 
we enjoy." 



36 CENTENNIAL OF 




DR. ISAAC KAY. 



THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF SPRINGFIELD, 
OHIO, DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



BY DR. ISAAC KAY. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : As part of a general plan adopted 
by the Executive Committee of the Springfield (O.) Centennial 
Celebration, to be observed this week, I have been requested to 
prepare a paper, a part of which is to be read on this occasion, 
briefly reviewing the religious history and denominational devel- 
opments of Springfield, for the past hundred years of its exist- 
ence. Of all the subjects assigned for consideration during the 
exercises of this Centennial occasion, none could possibly be of 
any higher importance. That great American statesman, Daniel 
Webster, declared in one of his masterpieces of forensic oratory, 
that the sincere worship of God by the people, was a thing vitally 
related to the very foundation principles of all good and success- 
ful human government. The voice of hstory certainly indicates 
that the religious convictions and devout character of those who 
first settled upon the Atlantic seaboard of this country, constituted 
the chief factors, under (iod's providence, in establishing ,vhat 
may be called and fairly considered the best Civil Government 
on earth. 

So it is not the least pleasing thought connected with the 
early annals and subsequent moral growth of Springfield, that 
Christian institutions, and the religious life of many individuals 
had entered into its affairs, almost from the very start. Aside 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 37 

from an isolated pious person, here and there, nearly the whole re- 
ligious history of Springfield would involve its churches, its Sun- 
day Schools, and in later years its Christian Associations and 
Leagues. We shall now take up as many as possible of these 
sources of religious power, and show their relation to our moral 
and spiritual development, as -a community. In attempting to no- 
tice these institutions, in their organized form and operations, we 
wall necessarily have to be very brief with them all. And, now, 
please allow me to state, once for all, that my principal sources of 
information have been threefold : first, those simple, but beautiful 
and instructive, annals of early Springfield, which, some years ago, 
were written by the late Dr. John Ludlow, and published at the 
time, in one of our daily newspapers. These literary contributions, 
from such a facile pen, have been left as a valual)le heritage to the 
present generation and to coming posterity as well. My second 
source of information has been a faithful and scholarly produc- 
tion, in the line of local history, wrtten, more than twenty years 
ago, l:)y our distinguished fellow-townsman, Oscar T. Martin, 
Esq., and incorporated as Part Four into the elaborate and in- 
structive History of Clark County, which was issued in the year 
1881 ; and, thirdly, all the facts pertaining to the last twenty-five 
or thirty years have been derived from numerous interviews and 
correspondences with our various city pastors and church clerks, 
and from conversations with aged surviving members of existing 
churches, and to all these I am under lasting obligations for their 
painstaking favors in this behalf. 

From the time that James Demint, with his family, came 
from Kentucky, in 1799, and commenced dwelling in his double 
log cabin, situated on the north side of Lagonda or Buck Creek, 
upon the site now occupied by our Northern School Flouse, there 
were no white dwellers here, until the year 1801, when Griffith 
Foos' family and several others from the same State, came and 
settled in what is now known as S]iringfield. They built them- 
selves log-cabin homes, after having selected lots already laid out 
by Messrs. Demint and Daugherty. and soon a number of pioneers 
came in, and settled down, as citizens, until in the year 1804, there 
were about a dozen houses in the place. Among the principal res- 
idents, at that time, were James Demint. John Daugherty. Griffith 



38 CENTENNIAL OP 

Foos, Charles Stowc, John Reed, James Lcwrey, J. Fields and 
two Frenchmen named Duboy and Lucoy, who dealt in goods suit- 
able, mostly, for the Indian trade. Even during this short while, 
above named, the agencies of evil were here, several years in ad- 
vance of the time when Christian work had begun to exert its 
beneficial influence upon the community. Whiskey, gambhng, 
profanity, and occasional fighting, were all in evidence, but per- 
haps, not to an unusual extent, as compared with other pioneer 
settlements. 

The very first preaching ever held in Springfield was at Mr, 
Griffith Foos' log tavern, as early as 1803, first by a Rev. Mr. 
Thomas, a Baptist minister, and afterwards, at long intervals, by 
preachers of othqr evangelical denominations. But these irreg- 
ular ministrations resulted, as it seems, in no church organization 
of any kind. 

In the Spring of 1804, a Mr. Walter SmalKvood, with his 
wife, came to Springfield from Virginia, purchased a lot on the 
south side of Main street, and built a residence near where the 
Western House now stands. Mr. Smallwood was a blacksmith 
and not a member of any church, nor was he a professor of relig- 
ion. His wife was a woman of superior intelligence, cultivated 
manners and very active in all matters pertaining to the moral- and . 
social improvement of the little community. She became a prime 
mover and original member of what was called the Methodist So- 
ciety, of that time, and she contiued to labor in that sphere until 
1806, when several persons of this religious affinity organized 
themselves in what should be regarded as the First Methodist- 
Church of Springfield. Whilst speaking of this time as one of 
religious dearth and gloom, we have occasion to note the life of 
this Christian woman, especially, and to regard her as a sort of 
morning star, in the opening up of the religious day. She was 
said to have been remarkably gifted in prayer, and her choice 
words and sweet voice, melting in its tenderness, were frequently 
heard in supplication in seasons of social worship, at her church. 
The character and work of this good woman would naturally 
claim our strong interest in her history. 

Mrs. Smallwood was the mother of six children — three boys 
and three girls — all of whom reached mature years, and, under the 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 39 

early leaching" of their pious mother, identified themselves with 
the church and engaged in its active work. Her burning and shin- 
ing light, amid the irreligious atmosphere surrounding her early 
life, had doubtless hurried the coming of a better religious era in 
Springfield. 

For several years individual Christians had assembled them- 
selves occasionally for worship, but in a somewhat unorganized 
capacity. Their usual place of meeting was at Nathaniel Pinkerd's 
log school house, on the northeast corner of Main and Market 
streets, where a deep religious feeling was experienced by many, 
who soon after began to look toward a regular church organiza- 
tion. 

As we wish to consider the religious denominations, in chro- 
nological order so far as possible, and inasmuch as the Methodist 
people seem to have been the pioneers in this regard, we shall 
make a note of their work, first, and follow the destinies of that 
denomination down to the present time. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL. 

]\rethodist ministers belonging to the old Mad River and 
Springfield Circuits had been preaching in Springfield at stated 
times, commencing as early as the year 1805, with Rev. John 
Thompson in charge. He was followed in 1807 by Revs. A. Mc- 
Guire and Isaac Ouinn ; and then again the appointees on the 
Springfield Circuit in 1808 and 1809 were Revs. T. Milligah, J. 
Davidson, W. Mitchell, Hezekiah Shaw, William Young and Saul 
Henkle. Rev. Saul Henkle was the first settled minister of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in Springfield. lie came from Har- 
din County, Virginia, in the Spring of 1800. He had a wife, and 
a child two months old. ?Ie moved into a log house built by 
•Archibald Lowrey, which was first occupied as a tavern, and he 
lived there until 1825, when he removed to his new brick house 
on High street. He was spoken of as a devout Christian, whose 
chief aim in life was to promote the glory of ( iod and the moral 
and religious welfare of the people. His ministerial life covered 
a period of twenty-eight years, during which time he preachd al- 
most constantly, and was present at almost every marriage and fu- 
neral occasion. In 1827 he edited and nublished a religious paper, 



40 CENTENNIAL OF 

called "The (inspel Trumpet." and he performed all the labor him- 
self at his own residence. lie was described as a little l)elow the 
ordinary h.eig'ht. of slender form, a little inclined to stoop, and had 
a remarkably brig'ht and pleasant face, and a manner indicating' 
his ministerial character. He was rather slow of speech, but quite 
choice in his use of words, and his thoughts were elevating" and 
instructive. He died in Springfield in the year 1837, leaving a 
widow, who was a lady of superior Christian character. She sur- 
vived him thirty-seven years. 

The records go to show that to the iMethodist bii])iscopal 
Church belongs the credit of first establishing i)ul)lic worship as 
an organization, though they did not erect their church building 
until the year 1814, four years after one had been built by the 
Christian Society, of which we will speak later on. This hrst- 
named Methodist Episcopal Church was l)uilt during the pastoral 
charge of Revs. Joseph Tatum and Joseph Oglesby, when the 
Mad River Circuit had a membership of 1,200. The incumbents 
of the Springfield Station for the next nineteen years may be 
summarized as follows: Rev. Abbott Goddard, for 181 5; Moses 
Crume and Henry Bascom, 1816; Walter (iriffith and ^^'illiam 
Williams, 181 7; John Sale and Jolm Strange, 1818; Russel Big- 
low and Robert W. Fiidey, 1820; A. McLean, 1821 ; Thomas S. 
Hitt and George W. i\Ialey, 1822; James Collard and John J. 
Taylor, 1823; William Larnin, T824; James T. Wells and George 
Gatch, 1825; Augustus Eddy and Levi Wliite, 1826 and 1827: 
Burroughs Westlake and Alfred M. Lorain, 1828 and 1829; Levi 
White and Elias Potter, 1830; William H. Raper and James T. 
Donahoe, J. W'. Reagan, Richard Brandruff and Joseph Hill then 
served as sup])lies until 1833. In 1833 William H. Raper l)eing 
Presiding Elder of the Lebanon District, the new Springfield Cir- 
cuit was formed with a menihership ot 950; the first preachers' 
under this arrangement being Revs. Joshua Boucher, J. P. Tay- 
lor and A. Sellers. It was during this year that the church edifice 
was built at the southeast corner of Columbia and Market streets. 
It was large, two stories in height, with a gallery, and afl^orded 
ample room for the largest congregations that were likely to as- 
semble in the town at that day. The church was without a belfry, 
and was called together at the ringing of the Court House bell. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 41 

which, bv arrangement, was rung at the same hour on the Sabbatli 
for all the churches in the place. Afterward a belfry and a bell 
were procured, the bell being the same as now in use at the Central 
J\I. E. Church, on the northwest corner of Center and High 
streets. This is the same organization, which was removed, later, 
from its old location on the corner of Columbia and ^larkct 
streets. 

In 1834 Revs. Joshua Boucher and Granville Moody were in 
charge of Springfield Circuit, with Rev. Wlliam H. Raper as Pre- 
siding Elder. This church was then continuously served by 
pastors as follows: For the years of 1835 and 1836, Revs. Wil- 
liam A. Barrett, John Alexander, Michael I\Iarley, E. B. Chase 
and Joseph Gasner ; Alifflin Harker and James L. Grover, for 
1837; M. Harker and Solomon Howard, 1838; William Young 
and Samuel Clark, with Zachariah Council as Presiding Elder, 
1839. In 1840, the charge at Springfield became a station, with 
Rev. William Young as pastor and a membership of 330. The 
pastorates were then continued as follows : Solomon Howard, ui 
1841; John W\ Weakley, 1842 and 1843 ; W^illiam ^^e"'' ^^^4; 
Uriah Heath. 1845; Randolph P. Foster, 1846 and 1847; Charles 
Elliott, 1848. 

Alxnit this time a portion of the old church colonized and 
formed the High Street M. E. Church, the two bodies being 
served by Revs^ Charles Elliott and Solomon Howard. In 1849 
and 1850. the parent organization was supplied by Rev. Maxwell 
P. Caddis, when there was a membership of 446. Then came 
Rev. Granville Moody, in 1853 and 1854; Rev. James F. Chal- 
fant, 1855; Joseph Newson, 1856; W. T. Ellsworth, 1857 and 
1858; M. Dustin, 1859; Charles Ferguson, i860 and 1861. 

In 1862, the church having sold its old property on Columbia 
street, ])urchased a lot and commenced building on the northwest 
corner of Center and High streets, and took the name of the Cen- 
tral M. E. Church of Springfield. The line of pastors then con- 
tinued as follows : Rev. S. L. Yourtee. 1863 to 1865 ; J. W. Cas- 
sett, 1866 and 1867; Asbury Lowrey, 1868; S. A. Brewster, 1869, 
1870 and 1871; C. W. Ketchum, 1872, 1873 and 1874; E. T. 
Wells, 1875. 1876 and 1877 ;W. A. Robinson, 1878, 1879 and 
1880; A. B. Eeonard. 1883 to 1886; William Runyan, 1886 to 



42 CENTENNIAL OF 

1887; John Pearson, September i, 1887 to 1888; Thomas N. 
Pearne, from September i, 1888, to 1890; C. W. Barnes, 1890 to 
1894; C. W. Rishell, 1894-95; V. F. Brown, 1895-99, ^.nd C. M. 
Van Pelt, from September i, 1899, to the present, when the mem- 
bership is 950, and the Sunday school has an average attendance 
of 398. 

The present building, erected in 1862, at a cost of $22,000, 
added materially to the architectural beauty of the city, and con- 
stitutes a busy headquarters of Christian activity. This venerable 
M. E. Church has had seventy-one pastors since its existence of 
ninety-tive years, which, perhaps, with the exception of one or two 
other churches, is the greatest number of pastors which has ever 
served any other church in the State of Ohio during the century 
just past. Springfield should thank God for the high privilege 
of having had such a religious organization, all these years, in its 
midst. , ^1'^ 

HIGH STREET M. E. CHURCH. 

The High Street iMethodist Episcopal Church of Springfield, 
organized in April, 1849, with. about 80 members, and has since 
become quite an efficient factor in the Christian cause here in this 
city. Levi Reinhart, Edmund Ogdcn, Christopher Thompson, L. 
N, Olds, John M. Young and S. S. INIoler constituted the Board of 
Trustees. Their first clmrch building was dedicated July 27, 185 1, 
Rev. John Dillon, afterward professor in Drew Theological Sem- 
inary, preaching the sermon on the occasion. The pastors of this 
charge sucessively were as follows: Revs. Isaac Dillon, in 1849; 
John S. Inskip, 1850; John W. Weakley, 1851 ; William H. South- 
erland, 1852-53; M. Dustin, 1854-55; John F. Marley, 1855-56; 
W. L Fee. 1857-58; Allen Trimble Thompson, i860; George C. 
Crum, 1861-62; A. B. Wambaugh, 1864; G. H. Dart, 1865-66-67; 
Thomas Collett, 1868-69-70. During this last-named pastorate 
the church edifice was remodeled at a cost of $18,000. Thence 
onward the pastors were: Rev. Lucien Clark, from 1871 to 1874; 
William L. Hypes, 1874; S. B. Smith, 1875; F. G. Mitchell, 1876- 
77-78; Thomas J. Harris, 1879, during whose pastorate the mem- 
bership was about 350. Next in the pastorates were : John F. 
Marlay, 1882-85 : R- H- l^^i^t, 1885-yo; John R. Shannon, 1890-91 ; 



, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 43 

A. H. Lucas, 1891-95; Jo'"^ A. Story, 1895-1901. Number of 
church membership, 500, and of Sunday school, 300. 

ST. PAUL'S M. E. CHURCH. 

The second colony from the First, or Central Methodist 
Episcopal Church was organized into a church under the most 
favorable auspices, and took the name of the St. Paul's Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Springfield. This plan was effected on the 
loth day of February, 1880. and involved the hearty and enthusi- 
astic co-operation of 150 persons, many of whom were veteran 
Christian workers. They purchased a very fine, elevated lot, sit- 
uated on the west side of YeUow Springs street, and erected upon 
it one of the most beautiful brick church edifices in the city, nearly 
one-third of which was contributed by Mr. P. P. Mast, one of 
Springfield's most liberal and philanthropic citizens, and who was 
a faithful member of the church thus benefitted. 

The organization of this church was formed in February, 
1880 with 166 charter members, including the following promi- 
nent'persons: Mr. and ^Irs. P. P. Mast, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. 
Deardorf, Mr. and Mrs. John Leuty, Mr. and Mrs.Wm.H.Houck, 
Mr and Mrs. T. W. Stafford, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Parsons, Mrs. 
E S Vale, and :^Irs. M. E. Kinney. The church building was 
commenced in the Spring of 1880, was finished in September, 
1881, and dedicated bv Bishop J. W. Wiley May 7, 1882 ; Rev. S. 
A. Brewster and Rev. W. N. Brodbeck, pastor, participated in the 
exercises The estimated cost of the building was $45>ooo- The 
following is the list of pastors : Rev. W. N. Brodbeck, from Sep- 
tember, 1880, to September, 1883 ; J. W. Bushong, 1883-84 ; Henry 
Tuckley 1884-87; Thomas E. Collett, 1887-88; J. R. Shannon, 
1888-89; G. W. Gullette, 1889-90; G. W. Dubois, 1890-92; Paul 
C. Curnick, 1892-97; J. W. McGruder, 1897-99, and J. W. Peters, 
present pastor. The present membership of the church is 462, 
and number of officers, teachers and scholars of the Sunday school 
is 242. 

CLIFTON AVENUE M. E. CHURCH. 

The organization of the Clifton Avenue M. E. Church fol- 
lowed the organization of the Sabbath school and prayer meet- 



44 CENTENNIAL OF 

ing. The idea of the organization originated in the Central M. E. 
Church of this city. The first session of the Sabbath school was 
held Sabbath afternoon, March ii, 1894; the first prayer meeting 
was held March 16, 1894. The first revival services were con- 
ducted by Rev. C. W. Barnes, the pastor of Central M. E. Church, 
during the week preceding Easter, in 1894. So encouraging was 
the great interest taken in the devotional meetings and Sabbath 
school, that it was determined to enter upon a church organiza- 
tion. The first step in this direction was a meeting called for con- 
sultation with the Presiding Elder, J. F. Marlay, D. D., by the 
pastor, C. W. Barnes, at the parsonage, June 19, 1894. There 
were present at the parsonage Rev. Dr. J- F. Marlay, Rev. C. W. 
Barnes, J. Griffith, J. S. Comer, J. B. Perrin, B. F. Kiplinger. and 
J. N. Wommer. 

These five laymen were appointed to secure financial 
pledges for the coming year, and the pastor was instructed to se- 
cure a list of persons who would enter the new church. The num- 
ber secured was about one hundred, and the formal organization 
of the church was acomplished August 13, 1894. The first Trus- 
tees were J. N. Wommer, J- Griffith, B. B. Littleton, W. S. Rich- 
ardson and J. S. Comer. The first official board meeting of the 
new church was held August 21, 1894. The ladies organized an 
Aid Society August 26, 1894; the voung ladies made a similar or- 
ganization August 21, 1894. 

On September 5-1 1, 1894, Bishop Goodsell appointed Rev. A. 
L. Brokaw, of Troy, as the first pastor of Clifton Avenue M. E. 
Church, who served one year. On September 3, 1895, Bisiiop 
Cyrus Foss appointed Rev. J- P. Shultz as pastor, who served 
two years. On September — , 1897, Rev. C. D. Muncey was ap- 
pointed, and served three years. On September — , 1900, Rev. S. 
W. Campbell was appointed and is still serving as minister. 

In November, 1899, the Springfield Methodist Union ap- 
pointed Robert Johnson and Jeremiah Griffith a committee to pur- 
chase the church building from the Free- Will Baptist Society. 
This the committee did, and a united effort on the part of the 
church members and friends in the city enabled them to place the 
property in the church's name, for a home for the future. The 
property is well cleared of debt ; but owing to this indebtedness, it 
has never been dedicated. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 45 

They have a membership of over 200 members and prolja- 
tioners, and are being equipped to assume their charge of uphold- 
ing the Gospel banner. 

The present Board of Trustees are : F. R. Henderson, Louis 
Jauch, W. T. Tullis, Jeremiah Griffith, Adam F. Fuhrman and 
W. A. Gibbs. 

The Sabbath school enrollment is 285. The Superintendent 
is J. Griffith, and his assistants are Fred R. Henderson and W. A. 
Gibbs. 

GRACE M. E. CHURCH. 

The third off-shoot from the Central M. E. Church was the 
Grace M. E. Church, situated on West Main street, near the Penn- 
sylvania House. This enterprise also was most liberally patron- 
ized from first to last by the personal labors and generous pecun- 
iary aid of Mr. P. P. Mast, who became most thoroughly identified 
with its religious work. They built a neat, but sufficiently com- 
modious frame house, in 1872, at a cost of $1,800, which was dedi- 
cated on Sunday, August 12, 1873, the sermon of the occasion be- 
ing preached by Rev. Charles Ferguson. Albert Allen, Stanley 
De Long and seventy-two others were charter members. The 
pastors were as follows, each term beginning in September : Revs. 
B. F. Jackson, 1887; G. L. Tuft, 1887-88; W. L Fee, 1890-91; 
A. C. Turrell, 1892-93; W. G. Warner, 1893-94; David Herr, 
1895-96; E. M. Ellsworth, 1897-98-99; J. L. Duckwall, from 
September, 1900, to the present. 

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. 4V 

What is now known as the North Street African Methodist 
Episcopal Church was, according to the most reliable tradition, or- 
ganized about the year 1824. Even before that time a few Christ- 
ian colored people, most of whom had once been slaves, were in 
the habit of gathering in their humble cabins, or barns, and Hold- 
ing religious services. Their first church building, one at first 
used as a school house, stood on the site of what was later known 
as the Bacon property, on East Main street. Then they purchased 
a little stone church, on Limestone street, near the creek. As the 
society continued to grow in numbers and means, it bought a small 



46 CENTENNIAL OP 

brick edifice formerly belonging to the St. John Lutheran folks, 
located on East North street, where their present church now 
stands, for the sum of $800. On September 28, 1874, the body 
was legally incorporated, and preparations were commenced for 
building their present large brick edifice, which was completed 
during the year 1876, at a cost of about $12,000. Among the ear- 
liest preachers were the Revs. Thomas Lawrence, Fayette Davis, 
and Mr, Kingman. We have secured the following list of pastors, 
besides the ones already mentioned, so far as possible, from the 
most accessible records, since 1879, their terms of service com- 
mencing and ending in October of the respective years : Rev. J. 
W. Gazaway was pastor from 1880 to 1882; Rev. J. H. Jackson, 
from 1882 to 1884; O. S. Ross, from 1883 to 1884; W. T. Max- 
well, from 1887 to 1889; Robert Johnson, from 1889 to 1890; R. 

C. Ransom, from 1890 to 1893; Rev. , from 

1893 to 1896; W. H. Coston, from 1896 to 1897 ; William J. John- 
son, from 1897 to 1899, and from October, 1899, to this time. Rev. 
J. S. Ferguson. The present membership of this church is 400, 
and the number of Sunday school pupils is 125 ; teachers, 11, and 
officers, 10. 

CENTER STREET AFRICAN M. E. CHURCH. 

This church was organized May 5. 1867, by nine persons com- 
ing from the old North Street A. M. E. Church, but under the 
auspices of the Cincinnati, or White, Conference. They bought 
a lot on South Center street, between Clark and Fair streets, June 
6, 1867, for which they paid $300, and on this was built a comfort- 
able one-story frame house, which was named Wiley Chapel. The 
following ministers have been pastors : Revs. Scott Ward, from 
October 30, 1867, to 1868; S. Dodridge, March 20, 1868; H. But- 
ler, 1870, six months; G. Downer, 1870-72; William Eckels, 
1872-73; W. W. Johnson, February to July, 1873; A. H. Price, 
1873-74; A. W. Hargrave, 1874; Scott Ward, 1874-78; M. Mc- 
Coomer, 1878-79; Thomas Tompkins, 1879-80; then A. Jamison 
for one year; A. H. Price for one year ; H. W. Tate, three years : 
J. H. Morland, one year; W. S. Langford, one year; G. W. Zieg- 
ler, two years; G. A. Sissel, one year; W. H. Simmons, one year; 
W. A. White, two years ; Joseph Courtney, one year; W. B. Har- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 47 

ris, two years ; N. H. Tolbert, five years, and this is the first year 
of the present incumbent (1901), W. M. Langford. This makes 
twenty-four pastors in all. The membership is now 225. 

ALLEN CHAPEL A. M. E. CHURCH. 

This church, located on the corner of Boler and Clifton 
streets, was organized on May, 1881. The opening sermon was 
preached by Rev. B. F. Lee, then President of Wilberforce Col- 
lege, now Bishop. There were seven charter members, and the 
following is a list of pastors since the organization : Revs. C. W. 
Crosby, Alex. Smith and R. G. Blunt, 1882; O. P. Ross, i«83; 
Jesse Henderson, 1884-85; D. Dorsey, 1886, Rev. Joseph Artope 
filling out his year; Rev. W. N. Tate, 1888; Rev. C. Phelps, 1889; 
Rev. M. E. Davis, 1890-91-92-93 ; Rev. G. W. Jackson, 1894; Rev. 
Jesse Smith, 1895 ; George Bundy, 1896 ; M. Mason, 1897 ; J. Max- 
well, 1898 ; D. D. Lewis, 1899. Rev. Dr. A. H. Hill is the present 
pastor. No other statistics have been furnished the writer. 

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

The Methodist Protestant Church, located at first on North 
street, afterward on Washington street, and finally on Pleasant 
street, was organized in January, 1829, with twenty members, 
Revs. L. and M. Henkel taking an active part. There were then 
but three other churches in Springfield, namely, the Methodist 
Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the Seceder, now United Presby- 
terian. The first pastor was Rev. A. McGuire, with Rev. Jonathan 
Floyd as colleague. In 1837 Rev. A. PL Bassett was pastor and 
also editor of the Methodist Recorder, the church paper. Rev. 
A. C. Barnes became pastor in 1838-39; David Croll, 
in 1840; O. P. Stephens, in 1843; James Pelan, in 1844; 
Reuben Rose, 1848-49 ; W. G. Fowler, 1849 ; Reuben Dalby, 1850 ; 
Charles H. Williams, 1851-52; N. S. Smith, 1853, at which time 
the membership was about one hundred. The succession was con- 
tinued in the following order, but the dates of their services have 
not been accessible to the narrator: T. B. Graham, T. Heard, S. 
S. Bartlett, J. E. Snowden, J. B. Walker, J. W. McFarland, J. W. 
Ellis, J. W. Spring, W. E. Marsh, J. M. Flood, W. R. Parsons 
and others. This church having become weakened by deaths, re- 



48 CENTENNIAL OF ; 

movals and lack of sufficient financial support, and other causes,, 
finally disbanded their organization, sold their property, a good, 
substantial brick edifice on West Pleasant street, and the surviv- 
ing membership became merged into the churches of other denom- 
inations. This organization, largely made up of earnest, indus- 
trious, godly men and women, existed in our midst for about 
sixty-five years, faithfully battling for Truth and Righteousness. 
Their existence had greatly blessed this community and the world. 

THE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION. 

Tn tr}ing to observe as nearly as possible a chronological or- 
der in regard to the origin of our local denominations, we will 
now return back as far as the years 1810-11, four years after the 
original organization of the Methodist Church, but three years 
before the latter had erected their first house of worship, the 
Christians, then sometimes called "New Lights," put up the first 
house of worship ever built in Springfield. This was accom- 
plished largely under the patronage of Mr. Grififith Foos and a few 
others, from Kentucky, who seem at one time to have been mem- 
bers of that denomination, in their former home. This house was 
20x30 feet, was built of logs and situated on the west side of Mill 
Run, a few rods west of where the Zimmerman Fountain now 
stands, on Center street. The subscriptions for this pioneer church 
edifice in Springfield consisted of part money, but mostly of dry 
goods, groceries, live stock, lumber and labor, on the part of those 
aiding in the work. Although put up under the auspices of these 
people belonging to the Christian denomination, as we learn, yet it 
was the understanding at the time that it was to be free for the 
use of all denominations. The organization, or whatever there 
was of it, lasted but fifteen years, and in 1825 the house for wor- 
shiping purposes was entirely abandoned. 

We do not see or hear anything more of this denomina- 
tion in Springfield, until in the Spring of 1881, when Elder C. J. 
Jones, an evangelist from Philadelphia, 1)y way of renewing, or, 
rather, recommencing their denominational work in Springfield, 
came here, and, with the assistance of Rev. A. W. Coan, editor of 
'The Herald of Gospel Liberty," at Dayton, Ohio, began a series 
of meetings in Slack's Opera House, which in a few months 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 49 

eventuated in a church organization. As a result, these Christian 
people, within four months, purchased a valuable lot on West 
High street, between Mechanic and Plum streets, and built a neat, 
commodious chapel, capable of seating 600 persons. In this they 
were assisted by the liberal subscriptions of quite a numlier of 
large-hearted manufacturers and other business men. Many 
persons outside of the organization gave from $50 to $100 each. 
This new church building was dedicated to the worship of God 
on the 17th day of December, 1882, with a membership of nearly 
one hundred persons. 

Rev. l\fr. Jones remained as pastor of this church for two 
years, and was followed by Rev. J. M. McWhinney, for four 
months ; Nicholas Summerbell, for eighteen months ; Byron 
Long, for ten months ; J. F. Strait, for two years ; C. W. Choat, 
for nine months ; E. D. Hammond, for three years ; W. T. W'ar- 
binton, for two years ; and Rev. Benjamin Mason, for three years. 

The people of this denomination discard all w-ritten creeds, 
except the Holy Scriptures, and place much stress upon the tenet, 
concerning the direct influence of the Holy Spirit upon the hu- 
man soul, and His vital importance in the conviction, conversion 
and sanctification of mankind. About this time the minds of 
many citizens were somewhat confused in regard to the nature 
and status of this new Christian movement. A popular misunder- 
standing concerning it was all the more natural and excusable 
from the fact that a large religious denomination, churches of 
which are located principally in Kentucky and other portions of 
the Southwest, generally calling themselves Disciples' Churches, 
and of whom the Rev. Alexander Campbell, President of Bethany 
College, Virginia, was a talented and distinguished leader, have 
also, in many instances of late, assumed the Catholic name, Christ- 
ian Church. Frequent explanations about this matter became 
all the more necessary at the time from the fact that, during 
nearly the same dates as above mentioned, a church of this last- 
named branch of the Christian denominations was formed in this 
city, known as the 

DISCIPLRS' CHURCH OF CHRIST IX Sl'RIXGFHa.D. 

It was established under the labors of Rev. A. Campbell, of 
Cincinnati, September 5, 188^). Tliese good people finally erectc I 



50 CENTENNIAL OP 

a neat and commodious frame edifice on tlie northeast corner of 
Mulberry and Yellow Spring's streets, where church services and 
a Sunday school are regularly maintained. This house of wor- 
ship, from foundation to finish, owing- to delays, required from 
1882 to 1893 in building-, and was dedicated in 1894, Governor Ira 
B. Chase, of Indiana, delivering' the dedication discourse. There is 
a present membership of 175, and there are 200 in the Sunday 
school. A complte list of pastors includes Rev. B. C. IJlack, who 
served from 1889 to 1890; E. W. Hammon, 1890-91; H. Elliott 
Ward, 1891-93 ; Horace Sibrell, 1893-94; J. P. Childs. 1895 ; E. T.' 
Hayes, 1895-97; J. S. Bonham, 1898-99; W. A. Harp, 1899-1901. 
This church has had nine regular pastors. 

UNITED rRESUYTERIAN CHURCH. 

Chronological order requires us next to notice the United 
Presbyterian Denomination. 

I am indebted to my aged friend, William A. Barnett, Esq., 
for the following particulars in regard to the history of the United 
Presbyterian Church of this city. Mr. Barnett has been an intel- 
ligent and exemplary member, and firm supporter of this church 
for more than half a century, and he yet lives to bless our com- 
munity with his presence. From him we learn that it is difficult 
to give the exact date of its first organization, which was effected 
under the name of the Associate Reform Presbyterian Church. 
This society, for the first nineteen years of its existence, was a 
branch of what is now the First United Presbyterian Church of 
Xenia, and the first minister was the Rev. John Steele, who 
came from Bourbon County, Kentucky, in 1817, at a salary of 
$500 per year for both congregations, preaching here one-fourth 
of the time, and the balance of the time in Xenia. Serving the 
double charge for nineteen years, his son, Rev. John Steele, Jr., 
says his father never missed but twice in filling his appointments 
here, and that was when he was sick, and during a protracted ill- 
ness of Mrs. Steele. Mr. Steele left home on horseback early of 
Sabbath mornings and came to Mr. James Stewart's, six miles 
south of town, for breakfast, and then came to town and preached 
two sermons and returned home in the evening, having had a ride 
of forty miles. He resigned the double charge in 1836, and re- 
tired from the ministry, after preaching forty years. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 51 

In 1838 Rev. James F. Sawyer became pastor, for all of the 
time, and about this time the society became an organized con- 
gregation. On account of ill health, Mr. Sawyer gave up the 
charge in 1848. The Rev. Robert Henry was the next pastor, 
from December, 1850, until June, 1853. Rev. Joseph Clokey was 
pastor from March i, 1855, to March i, 1875. Rev. Joseph Kyle 
became pastor January i, 1877, and continued until July, 1891. 
Rev. R. H. Hume, the present incumbent, became pastor June 
I, 1892. 

This society was incorporated by the Legislature of Ohio 
December 17, 1830. In May, 1858, the Associate Presbyterian 
and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches united, and 
formed the United Presbyterian Church. The persons who were 
the nucleus of the congregation came from Rev. John Steele's 
congregation in Bourbon County, Kentucky. They were James 
Steele, Mr, Snodgrass, Mr, Kirkpatric (an elder), a son-in-law of 
Mr, Steele, and all relatives of Rev. Mr. Steele. At a later date, 
James Dallas, of near Urbana, and his brother, who resided in 
Springfield, James Bogle, Richey Wisley, James Stewart, David 
Cowan, George McCullough, John Goudy, Robert Goudy and 
Anthony Byrd were added to the society. Mr, Kirkpatric, James 
Steele, David Hunter, James Bogle and James Dallas were the 
first elders. At a later date William Cowan, William Kirkpatric, 
William Hunter and ]\Ir. Hume were added to the society. 

Before erecting a church building, the congregation, for 
want of a better place, worshiped in the second story of William 
Mclntire's distillery, at the northeast corner of Columbia and 
Spring streets, the present location of the Blee Brewery. There 
was no evidence of any harm arising from so near contact with 
whisky; the spirits upstairs did not mingle with those below. 

The first house of worship was a stone building, erected in 
North Limestone street, near Buck Creek, in or about 18 19. The 
next building was erected in 1839, '^^^ Limestone street, south of 
High street, where James Carson & Company's store and the 
Kelly Building now stand. The present Iniilding at the corner 
of Mulberry and Limestone streets, was erected in 1886. 

PRESBVTERI.\N. 

The First Presbyteran Cliurch of Springfield was organized 



52 CENTENNIAL OF 

July 17, 1819, witli a mcml)crship of twenty-seven. Four years 
before its formation, the Rev. Arcliibald Steele was the regular 
supply, preaching once per month in such rooms as could be con- 
veniently secured for that purpose. Mr. Steele was succeeded 
by Rev. Andrew Poague, who gave his services until 1825, when 
Rev. Franklin Putnam became the first regular pastor of the 
church. At this time the village had a population of 510; males, 
285, and females. 225. In April, 1828, Rev. Wlliam J. l^razer 
succeeded as supply, and during his incumbency the first church 
edifice was built at a cost of $600. The Rev. William Gray acted 
as regular supply from February 27, 1830, to February 24, 1832. 
The Rev. John S. Galloway, who had been supply for four 
months, was finally ordained and installed as pastor October 4, 
1832. He continued in this relation with marked success for 
nearly eighteen years, when he resigned, April 16, 1850, and took 
an appointment for service, as agent, of The American Bible So- 
ciety. In 1848, two years betore Mr. Galloway left Springfield, 
the old church building was taken down, and a new one, costing 
$12,000, was built on the same site, corner of Main and Fisher 
streets. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Phin- 
eas Gurley, then of Dayton, but afterward of \\'ashington, D .C. 

The Rev. N. C. Burt, a man of eminent ability, was called 
as pastor, September 2, 1850, and served till June 19, 1855, when 
he resigned, to take charge of a church in Baltimore. After that 
the succession of pastors and times of service were as follows : 
Rev. William T. Findlay, from 1855 to 1858; Sylvester F. Scovel, 
from i860 to 1866; T. A. Fullerton, from 1867 to 1871, during 
which time $3,000 were spent in improvements upon the church 
building. From 1871 to 1872, the pulpit was filled by Rev. 
George F. Cain; from 1872 to 1879, by Rev. J. W. McKnight, 
immediately after which the pulpit was supplied by Rev. J. B, 
Helwig, President of Wittenberg College, for. eight months. 
Rev. W. C. Falconer, D. D., of St. Louis, was then called, and his 
installation took place November 9, 1880. His period of service 
was the longest, except one, in the history of the church. During 
this pastorate the Oakland Mission, at the East End, was mate- 
rially developed and put upon a permanent footing ; many special 
evangelistic meetings were held and important changes made in 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 53 

the music in the church, and in other matters. On account of fail- 
ing health, Dr. Falconer resigned April 13, 1891, and the Rev. 
A. .v. Murphy, having been called, entered ui)on his pastorate, 
September i, 1891, and closed June 18, 1894. During his term 
he secured the help, for a season, of the celebrated evangelist. 
Dr. Wilbur Chapman, with remarkably good results. 

The Rev. Alexander Proudfit was called, January 9, 1894, 
and entered upon his Gospel labors February 17th, following. 
Whilst this servant of God was ardently engaged in the service 
of his Divine Master, he was suddenly called to lay down his work 
and receive the reward of his earthly ministry. He died on the 
last Friday in March, 1897. This is the first death that has ever 
ocurred to a pastor while in active service among this people. 
Dr. Proudfit's body was transferred to New Castle, Delaware, for 
interment. In just three weeks after this event the mortal re- 
mains of a former pastor. Rev. Dr. Falconer, were conveyed sor- 
rowfully away from the church building to their final resting 
place in Ferncliff, our beautiful City of the Dead. 

The Rev. John Clark Hill, D. D., of Chicago, the present 
pastor, was called March 2, 1898, and was installed on Wednes- 
day, April 27th, of that same year. 

During the many intervals occurring between the various 
pastorates, the church has been indebted to the following minis- 
ters, who had served faithfully in these contingencies, namely, 
Rev. Drs. John B. Helwig, Joel Swartz, S. A. Ort and J. W. H. 
Stuckenberg, all of W ittenberg College ; Rev. Alexander Clark, 
•of the ^Methodist Protestant Church, and others. Of those who 
were sent into the ministry from this church, may be mentioned 
Revs. Washington A. Hooper, Edwin B. Rafifensperger, William 
H. Mc^fecn, S. M. Crothers and Gilbert L. Wilson. 

During its history of eighty-two years, this church has had 
seventeen pastors, averaging terms of five and one-half years 
€ach. and nearly 1,400 persons have been received into its com- 
munion, on confession of faith. The Sunday school was organ- 
ized on the first Sabbath in August, 1829, with eight teachers and 
sixty scholars, with Mr. Walcot Spencer as Superintendent. This 
school seems to have been fully and faithfully officered, and in 
«very way maintained, for the seventv-two vcars of its existence, 



54 CENTENNIAL OF 

to the present. The average attendance for many yeaih was- 
about 275. In 1886, it was 297. A late resume of this good work 
ends in these words : "For 3,500 Sabbaths, true men and women, 
who would not work for gold or silver, here assembled to teach 
the youth of Springfield that there is something better than wealth 
and grander than fame, and that a good name is rather to be 
chosen than great riches." 

SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The Second Presbyterian Church was a colony from the 
First, and was formed in i860, with a membership of 106. In 
1862 they purchased a lot on Limestone street for $4,000, and 
built thereon an edifice costing $18,000. The dedication services 
were held September 3, 1863. The church is a two-story brick, 
with the usual convenient arrangement for audience rooms, Sun- 
day school and prayer meeting rooms, etc. The following is a 
list of pastors, with the dates of their services : Rev. E. R. 
Bower, from May, 1861, to July, 1867; Rev. P. H. Mowrey, from 
November, 1868, to September, 1873; Rev. W. H. Webb, from 
April 20, 1874, to February 21, 1886; Rev. George H. Fullerton, 
from November 7, 1886, to July i, 1891, and Rev. E. P. Thom- 
son, from February 10, 1892, to the present. The church now 
has a membership of 428, and the Sabbath school, including its- 
Mission school, 457. 

THIRD rRESI'.VTERIAN CHURCH. 

The Third Presbyterian Church was developed from a mis- 
sion Sunday school, located on the North Side, under the patron- 
age of the First and Second Presbyteran Churches, in the Au- 
tumn of 1878. This church was regularly organized \[ay ii, 
189 1, with 104 charter members. On this occasion Rev. George 
H. Fullerton, D. D., presided over the meeting, and the sermon 
was preached by Rev. Maurice E. Wilson, D. D., of Dayton, Ohio, 
and the other members of the Dayton Presbyter}^ who partici- 
pated in the exercises were Rev. J. K. Gibson, of South Charles- 
ton, Ohio, and the late Rev. James L. Rodgers, of this city. The 
ofificers installed and elected at the organization were as follows : 
Elders, Richard H. Rodgers, Edward T. Sykes and John S. Wea- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 55 

ver; Deacons, James A. Todd, James P. Morrow, A. J. Slianks, 
L. C. LeRoy and M. M. AlcConkey. 

The present church edifice was erected during the Autumn 
and ^^'inter of 1893 and 1894, and was dedicated January 28, 
1894, the dedicatory sermon being- preached by Rev. Willis G. 
Craig, 1). D., of AlcCormick Theological Seminary, of Chicago, 
111. The present membership of the church is 194, and of the 
Sunday school, 342. Rev. George H. Fullerton, D. D., has been 
the only pastor from the beginning to the time of his resigna- 
tion, this last Spring. The present pastor is the Rev. George W. 
S. W'enrick. called from Atlantic Highlands, Xcw Jersey. 

I'KOTI'STAXr I'.l'lSCOPAL. 

Tn December. 1834, about seventy persons, among whom 
were William Coles, Harvey A'inal, John Newdove, Greenfield 
Dovely. Sanuiel Clark. William Wilson. Edwin H. Cummings, 
William A\'erden. Samson .Mason, Isaac Hendershott and James 
Sykes, together w.ith their wives, united themselves for the pur- 
pose of establishing a rrotestanl Episcopal Church in Spring- 
field Ohio. On the 12th of ]3ece:nber, of that year, the following 
men were elected vestrymen : Joseph T. Thorp and Joseph 
Sprague ; Wardens. H. A'inal, George Mortimer. Peter A. Sprig- 
man, H. Dififendorfer, Joseph Pcrrin, C. T. Ward, S. Mason, 
D. Grovnn. E. C. Ross and John Cook. Rev. Alexander Varian 
was chosen pastor. 

In l'"ebruar\-, 1835. a lot was purchased, located on the south- 
west corner of High and Limestone streets, upon which, soon 
afterward, a church building was erected, and consecrated by 
the Bishop November 2^, 1844. This edifice was used for its 
purpose until the erection of the new stone church on the corner 
of High street and Linden avenue, and its consecration. May 5. 
1874. This liuilding is a fine architectural structure and q.uite an 
ornament to the city, costing $38,000. and was all paid for before 
its dedication. 

The ])arish continued under the name of "All Souls" parish 
until 1842. when, by a legislative act, it was changed to the pres- 
ent name of ■"Lhrist's Church." The Rev. A. A'arian having re- 
signed as pastor August 11. 1833. tb.e i)ositii>n was then filled l)y 



56 CENTENNIAL OF 

Rev. Henry Payne, wlio coniiniKHl unlil December, 1839. The 
next rector was Rev. ^^'illiam Presbery, who resigned in 1843. 

The following is a list of rectors, or pastors, together with 
their terms of service: Rev. A. T. JNIcMurphy, from 1843 to 
November 10, 1846. The pulpit was then supplied from the lat- 
ter date to October, 1847, ^y Revs. Edward H. Cummings, James 
Stephenson and Richard Killer, when, on December 11, 1848, 
Rev.' Chandler Robbins was elected rector, and served until Oc- 
tober I, 1854. Then came Rev. Dr. John T. Brooke, formerly of 
Cincinnati, who served from April 2, 1855. to August 19. 1861 ; 
Rev. H. W. Woods, 1861 to 1862; Rev. Charles ]McIlvaine, son of 
the distinguished Bishop Alcllvaine, D. D., from June 8, 1863, 
to November 12, 1865 ; Rev. John C. Ames, from May 24, 1866, 
to December 7, 1869; Rev. C. B. Davidson, from November, 1870, 
to February, 1873; Rev. H. II. Morrell, May 3, 1874, to ^lay i, 
1879 ; Rev. John T. Rose, from December, 1879, ^o July 14. 1880; 
William \\'. Steele, 1880 to 1881 ; Rayno E. W. Cozens, Decem- 
ber 13, 1891, to ^lay 31, 1894: Rev. Alex. C. jNIcCabe, from Oc- 
tober I, 1894, to the present. The Sunday school was organized 
in 1835. The church has now a membership of 352. In the 
sixty-two years of this church's existence it has had seventeen 
pastors, whose terms of service averaged about three and three- 
fourths years each. 

THE IIK.WKNLV REST PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CIIURCIL 

The new "Church of the Uoavcnly Rest, Protestant Epis- 
copal," situated on South Plum street, near Pleasant was estab- 
lished in its present location largely through the whole-souled 
liberality of the late Mr. ^^'illiam I-'oos and his good wife, both 
of them now gone to their rest. These two persons donated the 
beautiful lot and the money to \nn up the building, and i^ay for 
most of the furnishing. The building, which is a ncaL uni(|ue one- 
story brick, c[uite complete in all its appointments and ornamen- 
tal withal in its architecture, was dedicated to the worship of 
God on Sunday morning, December 2, 1888. The pretty and 
complete auditorium is capable of seatng 300 persons, and is at 
times tiioroughly tested as to its capacity. 

The services of the consecration were concluded bv Rev. C. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 57 

M.\'oun2:, from Greenville, assisted by the choir, consisting of 
Miss Bassett, organist, Misses Zutavcrn, Ferguson, Belle Albin, 
Mrs. Gillett, Messrs. T. J- Thomas, J. C. Brecht, John Cornor 
and W. N. Davis. The vestrymen then consisted of Samuel 
Houghton, Senior Warden; C. A. Davis, Junior Warden; Wil- 
liam Foos, G. H. Coles, Thomas Irwin, A. J. Moyer and Thomas 
A. Davis. The following clergy-men have served as pastors in 
the order here given: Revs. C. M. Young, Charles S. Walkley, 
W. E. Dakin, D. W. Wright. 

BAPTISTS. 

The First Baptist Church of Springfield was constituted on 
the 29th day of January, 1836, with the following named nersons 
as members: Edward Nugent, Peleg Cotes, William T. Young, 
William J. Card, Thomas J. Howard, Mary Jane Hill, Jane 
J\Iarenes, Mary Steinbach, Sarah A. Dowling, Lydia Card, Rach- 
el Young, Mary Ann Nugent and Sarah Howard. On May 7th 
of the same yean a Sabbath school was established in connection 
with the church. A call was extendedl to Rev. E. D. Owen for 
the pastorate, which was accepted, July 12, 1863. On the 23d of 
August following, the church was admitted into the Mad River 
Baptist Association. 

By the wise foresight of Messrs. P. Cotes, E. J. Nugent, J. 
M. Gallagher, J. S. Halsey and others, a valuable lot on the north- 
east corner of High and Limestone streets was secured March 4, 
1844. upon which, soon afterward, a good, substantial, two-story 
brick house of worship was erected and finished, so as to be ded- 
icated Februar}' 12, 1832. On January 17, 1838, Rev. James El- 
liott, of New York, was called to labor half his time as pastor, 
and so continued to do for about two years. May 26, 1840, Rev. 
H. D. Mason, became pastor and served but seven months. On 
June 26, 1 841, Rev. Enos French was called to the pastorate at a 
salary of $400. On the 8th of September, 1843, ^^r. French re- 
signed, to take effect at the close of the year. Rev. Mr. Syms 
was then chosen pastor, April 8, 1S44, and served until the Sprinor 
of 1848. 

After this date the following ministers have had the pastoral 
charsfe of this church, for the herein-mentioned terms: Rev. 



58 CENTENNIAL OP 

John S. Moore, from October 9, 1848. to April, 1850; Rev. Jo- 
seph Brown, from November 5, 1850, to Noveml:)er 5, i860; 
Rev. WiUiam AlHngton was called and remained until March 15, 
1862; Rev. Samuel Williams, from June 2, 1862, to July i, 1864; 
Rev. J. R. Baumes, from November 4, 1864, to March 10, 1868; 
Rev. R. L. Colwell, from August 11, 1868, to July i, 1873; Rev. 
A. L. Wilkinson, from December 8, 1873, to August i, 1877; 
Rev. J. B. Tuttle, to August i, 1880. In April, 1881, this church 
sold its property on Limestone and High streets to Ross Mitchell 
for $25,000 in gold, and afterward erected its present building on 
the corner of South Fountain avenue and Miller street, at a cost 
of $15,000. 

The list of pastors may be continued as follows : Rev. F. B. 
Cressey, for two vears, ending March i, 1892; Rev. G. O. King, 
from March 9, 1892, to April 17, 1893; Rev. A. S. Carman, from 
December 3, 1893, to July 12, 1898, and Rev. W. J. Sly, the pres- 
ent pastor, commenced his service here January 14, 1899. The 
membership of the church now numbers 472, and the enrollment 
of scholars in the Sunday school is 225. This church, in its exist- 
ence of sixty-five years, has had sixteen pastors, averaging about 
four years each. 

TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH. 

On the 6th day of April, 1868, fifty-two members withdrew 
from this church by letter and formed a new organization under 
the name of the Trinity Baptist Church of Springfield. April 9th 
the body was organized, having the following official board, with 
Rev. J. R. Baumes as pastor: J. J. Tuttle, Clerk; McClung 
Huffman, Lewis C. Huffman, Jacob Gram and J. J. Tuttle. Trus- 
tees. This church worshiped for a short while in the old City 
Hall, and subsequently in Union Hall, which was occupied un- 
til January 22, 1871. Their new brick building on the corner of 
Limestone and Mulberry streets, having been flushed and in 
readiness, was dedicated on the 22d of January, 187 1, the Rev. 
Dr. H. F. Colby, of Dayton, preaching the dedication sermon. 

The pastors of this church were as follows : Rev. J. R. 
Baumes, May 2, 1868, to November 19, 1872; Rev. C. M. Rupe, 
November, 1872, to December i. 1873; Rev. A. B. White. May 4, 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 59 

1874. to December i, 1876; Rev. A. B, Jordon, July i, 1877, to 
July I. 1879; Rev. T. B. DePuoy, from March 22. Jamiary i, 
1882, Rev. J. C. Fernald became pastor, and after serving a lit- 
tle over three years, he was succeeded by Rev. J. H. Roberts, 
September i, 1885, and he in turn was succeeded in the pastorate 
by Rev. G. R. Richards, a recent graduate of Alorgan Park Semi- 
nary, Chicago. He was one of the first to champion the feasibil- 
ity and advisability of an organic union with the First Baptist 
Church, holding that if such a union could be properly brought 
about, it would prove the beginning of a new and better era for 
the Baptist cause in Springfield. Air. Richards was pastor of the 
Trinity Church two years and three months, when he resigned, 
soon after which the contemplated union with the First Baptist 
Church was formally consummated, on the 17th of August, 1891. 

THE liLESSED HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The Blessed Hope Baptist Church was formally organized 
August II, 1898. Twenty-one charter members presented let- 
ters of admission from the First Baptist Church at this time. 
Rev. Albert Ehrgott, the first pastor, began his labors October 23, 
1898, and closed them July i, 1900, to resume missionary service 
at Rangoon, Burma. Rev. C. i\I. Brodie, the present pastor, 
commenced his work January 6, 1901. The membership is now 
165, and the Sunday school numbers 195. including officers, 
teachers and pupils. 

SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH (COLORED.) 

The Second Baptist Church of Springfield was organized in 
1859. with eleven members, by Rev. Wallace Shelton, of Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. The church was ministered to by visiting ministers 
until 1865, when the Rev. George Dardis, of Nashville, Tennes- 
see, was called as their first regular pastor. The church bought 
a lot and built their first house for worship on South Fountain 
avenue. This house was built in 1866. They worshiped there 
until 1884, when they moved into their present property on South 
Factory street. The membership at present is 400, and their 
present pastor is H. C. Bailey. 



60 CENTENNIAL OF 

ST. John's baptist church (colored.) 

The St. John's Baptist Church was organized by Rev. J. C. 
Taylor, of Toledo, on the 6th of July, 1897, with the following 
charter members : Revs. Charles Orr and E. C. Clay, Y. W. 
Yates, Sarah Chapman, Cora Hooke, Nellie Martin, Elmer Spy- 
glass, Elizabeth Keemer, Sarah Calvin, Sarah Chinn, John Mas- 
kell and others. A Council of the Dayton and Western Union 
Association was called for the 23d of August, 1897, at which 
time the St. John's Baptist Church of Springfield was regularly 
organized with twenty-one members. Rev. Joseph Wilson, of 
Cincinnati, was called to the pastorate December i, 1897, and 
served two years; Rev. A. P. Eaton was called January i, 1899, 
and yet remains as pastor. The present membership is 125, with 
a flourishing Sunday school, numbering, perhaps, about 50 schol- 
ars. Having purchased the comparatively new and handsome 
brick edifice, formerly owned by the Methodist Protestant Church, 
situated on West Pleasant street, between Market and Center 
streets, valued at $12,000, the church may now be regarded as es- 
tablished upon a permanent footing. Elder Eaton has been a 
zealous, working pastor. 

UNIVERSALISTS. 

The first minister that ever preached the doctrine of Univer- 
salism in Springfield was the Rev. M. Fisk, of New Jersey, in 
1833. For three or four years after this date believers in the 
doctrine had no stated times or places of meeting, but occa- 
sionally had preaching services in the school houses or at pri- 
vate homes by such ministers as happened to come along. In 
1837 Mr. John Winn entertained the idea of establishing a Univer- 
salist Church here, and with this object in view, he headed a sub- 
scription with $1,000, and proceeded to raise more money, and 
thus succeeded in getting enough to build a church, and in March 
of the same year, Mr. John Lowrey donated a lot situated on 
Washington street, between Center and Factory streets, upon 
which the society put up what was then regarded as the best 
church edifice in Springfield, at a cost of $4,500. Rev. George 
Messenger was chosen pastor and preached the dedication dis- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 61 

course, and in the Summer of 1837 the building was finished. 
Among the prominent families entering into this early organza- 
tion were the Messengers, the Wynns, the Bancrofts and the 
Pierces. 

As the records of this church, if existing, have not all been 
available, and as for much of the time the pastoral relations were 
not very regularly kept up, we can at present barely give the 
names of the principal ministers and the order in which they have 
served, as follows : Revs. George Messenger, Pingrew, Emmitt, 
Biddlecome, Waite, Lionell, Weaver, Turner, Demorest, Carlton, 
Bosseman, Lowlinson, Henley, Carlton, Ashenfelter, Guthrie, 
Countryman. These all served previous to the year 1893, when 
the new building was erected on West Columbia street, and fur- 
nished for the day of dedication, June 18th, of that year, at which 
time the Revs. Cantwell, Henley, and Ira W. McLaughlin were 
present and assisted in the exercises. After that time the pastors 
successively were: J. R. Stoner, George L. Sias and Henrietta 
G. Moore, the latter having just completed her third year with 
the church. The famiUes having more or less representation with 
the church are sixty in number, while the number of adherents are 
placed at about eighty persons. The affiliated departments of 
the church are a Sunday school of 35 members, a Young People's 
Christian Union of 22 members, a Missionary Alliance of 15 mem- 
bers, and a Gary Circle of 23. This church during the sixty-four 
years of its organization has had twenty regular pastors. 

LUTHERAN. 

On the first day of May, 1841, the Rev. John Lehman, with 
about forty others, organized a Lutheran society, which, after 
Mr. Lehman's departure, became inoperative, but was reorgan- 
ized in 1845, by Rev. Dr. Ezra Keller and three others, namely, 
Messrs. Kurtz, Filbert and Cook, who met in the house of Jacob 
Schuman. The first communion was held on January 11, 1846. 
For awhile the services were held in the Court House. A lot 
100 feet front and 100 feet deep was purchased of Peter Murray, 
on the corner of High and Factory streets, for $250, and on the 
14th day of June, 1845, the comer stone of their new church was 
laid, and the discourse of the occasion was delivered by Dr. Keller. 



62 CENTENNIAL OF 

This building- was remodeled in 1869 at a cost of $20,000. It is 
now a large and commodious house, with full equipments, in- 
cluding a fine pipe organ, and bell. It has also a neat little edi- 
fice, immediately adjoining the main building, which was re- 
cently put up for Sunday school purposes. The church property 
is valued at about $45,000. The auditorium is capable of seating 
750 persons. 

The following is a list of their pastors, together with the 
terms of their services: Rev. Dr. Ezra Keller, from 1845 to 
1849; Professor Diehl, from January to June, 1849; Rev. Drs. 
Samuel Sprecher and F.W. Conrad, from June, 1849, to June, 
1854; Rev. A. Essick, from 1854 to 1856; A. J. Weddell, from 
1856 to 1857; J. H. Heck, 1858, to 1861 ; M. Officer, 1861 to 1862" 
M. Titus, from 1863 to 1867; J. B. Helwig, from 1867 to 1868; 
M. W. Hamma, 1869 to 1878; M. J. Firey, from January, 1878 
to June, 1883; Daniel Smith, from 1883 to 1886; Rev. Dr. Hel- 
wig-, from 1886 to 1891 ; E, W. Simon, from 1891 to 1899, and 
from the last date to the present time Rev. Dr. Firey's second pas- 
torate. This list makes a full total of sixteen pastors, with an 
average of three years each. 

The Sabbath school of this church was organized Novem- 
ber 12, 1845, with sixty-four persons. In 1866 it contained 300 
scholars; the average enrollment in 1880 was 690. Owing to the 
heavy colonizations going out from this church since the last 
mentioned date, the average attendance at the Sunday school has 
been reduced to about 500. The membership of the church itself 
is still over 750. 

ST. John's German evangelical Lutheran church. 

The German Lutherans, having previously been holding 
meetings at the Court House and in different private rooms, 
finally, in 1845, organized themselves into a church with a mem- 
bership of seventy-five, and having the Rev. Mr. Schladerm at 
their head. They assumed the name of St. John's Lutheran 
Church and retained Mr. Schladerm as .their pastor, until the 
time of his resignation, in 1849, when he was succeeded by Rev. 
J. C. Shulze. Then came Rev. Charles Stroud, who continued 
in the pastorate from 1857 to 1870, when he was succeeded by 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 63 

Rev. Charles Betzler. The Rev. T. A. Roister was then called 
in 1873, after .which Rev. C. \\'. Knuth was selected as pastor, at 
which time the church had a memhership of about 400, and prop- 
erty valued at $20,000. 

On the 17th of June, 1888, Rev. W. F. Werheini became pas- 
tor, and so remains. During his charge the new and beautiful 
church on the corner of Factory and Columbia streets was erected. 
The corner stone of this fine edifice was laid November 3, 1895, 
and the consecration took place April 26, 1897. The church prop- 
erty now is worth about $50,000. The membership now includes 
450 families, and the Sunday school has 575, and the Ladies' So- 
ciety has increased to 263 members. Mr. Werheim is a scholar, 
and his large and intelligent congregation has now the benefit of 
both German and English preaching, well apportioned, accord- 
ing to their highest needs. 

ZION'S LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Zion's Lutheran Church went out from the St. John's Ger- 
man Lutheran Church, with twenty-three families, under the 
pastoral charge of Rev. J. C. Schulze. After worshiping in sev- 
eral small chapels, successively purchased by them, they finally, 
in 1867, built their present seemly and commodious brick edifice 
on the corner of Plum and Columbia streets, at a cost of $22,000. 
Revs. Loy and Lehman, of Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, 
conducted the dedicatory services. Rev. Mr. Schulze's successor 
in the pastorate was Rev. L. H. Lorenz, and he again was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. H. Hinkle, in 1869. Rev. F. W. Althofif came into 
the pastorate in 1872, and during his term the church had ac- 
quired a membership of 375, and the Sunday school had 150 
scholars. Immediately after Mr. Althoft, came Rev. R. C. Lens- 
ki, from October, 1892. to October, 1899; then came Rev. J. H. 
Kuhlman, the present incumbent of the pastoral office, begin- 
ning in November, 1899. The present number of communicants 
is 400, and the enrollment of the Sunday school, teachers and all, 
214. Since the building above mentioned, a parsonage, costing 
$3,000, has been added to the church property. 

SECOND EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The Second Evangelical Lutheran Church of Springfield 



64 CENTENNIAL OF 

was organized January 13, 1884, with forty-five charter members, 
who had previously received regular letters of dismissal from the 
First Lutheran Church of the city. Among those charter mem- 
bers were Mr. and Mrs. Ross Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. P. A. 
Schindler, Mr. and Mrs. William Lupfer, Professor and Mrs. C. 
L. Ehrenfeld, C. N. Gulp, Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Bost, Mr. and Mrs. 
Z. F. Bost, and others. The building was begun and finished in 
the year 1886, and dedicated to God's service Decem.ber 19, 1886. 
Rev. Dr. John B. Helwig preaching the dedicatory sermon, and 
other Lutheran ministers participating in the exercises were 
Revs. G. L. Ehrenfeld, J. H. Richard, G. N. H. Peters and W. H. 
Singley. Addresses were also made during the day by Rev. Dr. 
W. G. Falconer, of the Presbyterian Church, Dr. R. H. Rust, of 
the M. E. Ghurch, and Rev. W. H. Warren, of the Gongrega- 
tional. , 

The pastors who have served the church thus far were Revs. 
A. E. Wagner, Ph. D., from May i, 1884, to July 26, 1885 ; L. A. 
Gotwald, D. D., from December i, 1885, to December i, 1888; 
D. H. Bauslin, D. D., from December 16, 1888, to November i, 
1893; Rev. E. H. Dornblaser, from December 15, 1893, to the 
present. The present membership of the church is about 300, and 
the enrollment of the Sunday school is 390. 

THIRD LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

In July, 1887, the Third Lutheran Ghurch was organized by 
twenty-nine charter members, mostly persons from the First 
Ghurch, of the same denomination, and among these were Mr. 
and A^rs. Christian Hanika, Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Rebert, Mr. and 
Mrs. M. L. Sise, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Lyday, Mr. and Mrs. George 
H. Young. The church building was dedicated December 11, 
1887, the sermon being preached by Rev. J. G. Zimmerman. The 
pastors have been as follows: Rev. E. L. Fleck, July, 1887, to 
November, i, 1888; Rev. L. S. Keyser, February i, 1889, to 
February i, 1895; Rev. John J. Hill, May 15, 1895, to December 
II, 1898; Rev. G. E. Derr, the present pastor, commenced his 
work in March, 1899. The church membership now numbers 
317, and the Sunday school 325. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 65 

FOURTH LLTHERAX CIIIRCII. 

We learn from the Souvenir of their dechcation services, that 
the first meetings: in the interest of the Fourtli Lutheran Church 
was held May lo, 1887. At this meeting a committee consisting 
of Dr. ]]. F. Prince, Messrs. C. P. Remsherg and G. W. Billow, 
was appointed to secure subscriptions for the purchase of two 
lots on North Fountain avenue. On June 27th, a constitution 
was adopted and the first Board of Trustees elected, as follows: 
B. F. Prince, G. W. Billow, Rev. Dr. J. W. Richard. C. P. and 
R. C. Remsherg. The lots were purchased July i, 1887, at a cost 
of $2,352. From that time until the organization of the congre- 
gation, in 1897. regular yearly meetings were held by the 15oard 
of Trustees for the election and the transaction of their business. 
The formal organization of the church occurred May 7, 1897, 
at which time a constitution was adopted and twenty-four signa- 
tures secured. This number was increased to eighty-five, who 
became charter members. On July 18, 1897, the congregation de- 
cided to erect a church building. The corner stone was laid Sep- 
tember 5th. From May 2t„ 1897. to January 23, 1897. inclusive, 
services were held in the Chapel of Wittenberg College. The 
first service in the new building was on January 30, 1898, the ser- 
mon being preached by Dr. B. F. Prince. On February 4. 1898, 
the regular dedication services were commenced and continued 
three days. The first sermon of the occasion was by Rev. S. G. 
Dornblaser. of Columbus. President of Miami Synod. This was 
followed during the three days by various other religious exer- 
cises in which Rev. B. F. IVince, Ph. D.. D. H. Bauslin, D. D.. 
S. F. Breckenridge. D. D.. S. P.. Barnitz. D. D., S. A. Ort. D. D.. 
LL. D.. I'rofessor F. G. Gotwald, Ezra K. Bell. 1). D.. of Cincin- 
nati, and others took ])art. The cost of the Imilding was $6,000. 
now all paid for. 

From the organization of the congregation, in ^fav. 1897, 
until May 15, 1898. the Professors of Wittenberg College and 
Theological Seminary supplied the pulpit, up to the time that 
Mr. E. G. Howard, a student at the Wittenberg Seminarv. was se- 
cured as regular supply. He served with great acceptabilitv un- 
til the close of the year. On the first of January, 1899, Rev. C. F. 
Steck. of Louisville, Kentucky who had some weeks before been 



66 CENTENNIAL OF 

called, assumed the duties of the pastoral office. He was for- 
mally installed February 5th, following, Rev. F. G. Gotwald, 
Rev. Prof. D. H. Bauslin and others officiating. Rev. C. F. Steck 
is still the pastor. During the past year an addition has been 
built to the chapel for the use of the primary department of the 
Sunday school, at a cost of $800. For its support, the Fourth 
Church relies alone in the free will offerings of its mem1)ers and 
friends. Church socials, entertainments, etc., are never given 
for the purpose of making money, and the church building is 
used only for religious purposes. The present membership of the 
church is 135, and the Sunday school has 220, including officers, 
teachers and pupils. 

THE FIFTH LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

In speaking of the tenth anniversary of the Fifth Lutheran 
Church, which was observed on the 7th of last month, the follow- 
ing statements were made : 

On the third day of July, 1891, the Sunday school and 
church was organized, and meetings were first held in a private 
residence on Mound street. At this time the congregation num- 
bered twenty-five faithful workers in the cause of Christianity. 
Then a store-room at Mound and East streets was rented, and 
church services were held there. 

Several months of worship were enjoyed in the old store- 
room, when the members awoke one mornng to find their goods 
stored in the street and the doors barred against them. The lease 
held by the gentleman from whom they were renting had ex- 
pired, and the owner had taken this method to have his property 
vacated. Not to be prevented from gathering together in the 
name of the Master, the little band went just across the street and 
fitted up a chapel. Here peace and tranquillity reigned. 

In 1893 the lot at High street and Greenmount avenue was 
purchased and the pretty church edifice which now graces it was 
erected. The house was dedicated in 1894. In the Spring of 
1898 the auditorium was dedicated. 

Rev. Fred G. Gotwald, the present pastor of Calvary Luth- 
eran Church, was the first pastor of the Fifth Lutheran. Rev. 
Baltzly was his able assistant, accepting the pastorate upon Rev. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 67 

Gotwald's resignation. He continued the work until December i, 
1899, when he resigned and took charge of a church at Mansfield, 
Ohio, where he is now located. Rev. Harvey S. Lawrence, the 
present pastor, was installed on May i, 1900. From the meagre 
beginnng of 25 members the congregation has grown until over 
350 souls are now identified with it. 

The charter members of this first beginnmg on July 3, 1891, 
were Mr. and Mrs. Philip Gerhardt, Mr. and Mrs. F. Danforth, 
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Gerhardt, Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Miller, Mr. and 
Mrs A. E. Colt, Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Balser 
Yonker, ]\Irs. M. L. Sise and daughter, Addie Tice, Emma Catlin^ 
Henry Yonker, L. E. Miller and F. G. Gotwald. At the end of 
the first year the membership reached 53, and has now increased 
to almost 200. 

ST. Luke's evangelical Lutheran church, 

St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church, comer of North 
and Race streets, was organized May 20, 1888, by Rev, C. W. 
Knuth. The church edifice was purchased of a sister denomina- 
tion, and I do not know when it was erected. It was dedicated 
May 20. 1888, the dedicatory sermon being preached by Dr, J. 
D. Severinghaus, of Chicago, 111. This church has had the fol- 
lowing pastors: Rev. C. W, Knuth, from 1888 to 1893; Rev. 
.Arthur Gringel, 1893 to 1894; Rev. C. A. Koenig, 1894 to 1900; 
Rev. J. G. Trefz, from 1900 to the present time. The member- 
ship numbers 140. and the Sunday school 138. 

calvary evangelical LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

This congregation was organized April 15, 1900, with 
twenty-seven charter members, among whom were William H. 
Lohnes, Leroy E. Miller, George W. Gladfelter, H. L. Souders 
and Samuel P. Miller. This action was taken in a small store- 
room, No. 409 West Main street, and was the outgrowth of an 
afternoon Sunday school, which some of the Lutherans of the 
West End of Springfield had carried on for the preceding year. 
After worshiping in this store-room until December 9, 1900, 
they took possession of their new building, on the southeast cor- 
ner of High and Shaffer streets, December 16, 1900. Services 



68 CENTENNIAL OF 

were held in the smaller room until March 24, 1901, when the 
entire building was completed, and finally dedicated in due form, 
the sermons for the ocasion being delivered by Rev. David H. 
Bauslin, D. D., of Wittenberg Theological Seminary, and Rev, 
Charles F. Steck, President of the ^liami District Synod. 

The act of dedication was performed by Rev. Prof. S. F, 
Breckenridge, D. D., then President of the General Synod of the 
Lutheran Church of the United States. From the organization of 
the congregation, April 15, lyoo, to July 29th, the same year, 
Rev. S. M. Lutz, a senior in Wittenberg Seminary, was acting 
pastor. Since July 9, 1900, Rev. F. G. Gotwald has been pastor. 
The church has now a membership of seventy persons. The Sun- 
day school, in officers, teachers and pupils, numbers 140. The 
church property is valued at $5,000, and is free of debt. The fu- 
ture of the work seems bright and cheering. 

CATHOLICS. 

According to the best authority, there was not a single Cath- 
olic family living in Clark County lief ore the year 1830, 1)Ut we 
ascertain about the year 1835, and for ten years afterward, quite 
a number of Catholics located in Springfield and immediate vi- 
cinity. Among them were Patrick Rockett, William Giblenhoft', 
Francis Criegton and twenty others, most of whom had families. 
From 1845 to 1850 came the Hennesys, the Lynches, the Mc-" 
Breens and about fifty other families, and in the next five years, 
the Gallaghers, the Bolans, the Tenans, the Maddens and twenty- 
seven other families. The first priest was Rev. Henry Juncker, 
who afterward became the Bishop at Alton, 111. The Catholics 
had services at irregular intervals, but only averaging about once 
or twice per month, generally at private homes ; and occasionally 
in some small public hall, when such could be had. The next 
priest coming to Springfield was Rev. Joseph O'Marley, who died 
here, and was succeeded by his brother, Patrick O'Marley. 'I'he 
latter was followed by Rev. Father Cahill, who came here from 
Piqua, Ohio. 

In August, 1840, the Catholics of Springfield had their first 
resident priest, the Rev. James F. Kearney, who remained about 
one year, and then resigned, on account of failing health. Some- 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 69 

time before Mr. Kearney's i^aslorate, the present central and m 
every wav valuable lot was purchased, ui)on which was budt a 
neat' church, laroely l)y the liberal aid of Mr. Michael Cassily, a 
wealthv Catholic of Cincinnati. Services were for a long time 
held in the basement of this building". The first parish register 
was opened in August, 1849, by Father Kearney. The last-named 
priest was followed by Rev. Maurice Howard, in May, 1850. He 
remained in charge for thirteen years. The Rev. T. J. Cogan 
became pastor in 1863, and remaining but a few months, was fol- 
lowed in January, 1864. by Rev. J. X. Thisse, a French priest. 
On the loth of May, 1873, Mr. Thisse was instantly killed by a 
runaway team of frightened horses. Then the following priests 
came successively and officiated, each for a short while, to fill 
up intervals between the regular pastors from 1847 to 1873; 
Revs. Father Duffy, in 1848; Th.omas Blake and Thomas Boul- 
ger, in 1850; C. A. Doherty and C. F. Shellhamer. in 18^18: X. 
B. Young and J. H. Dutting, in 1869, and Rev. D. Carle, in 1873. 

In the year 1868, and from that on, the priests in charge of 
the St. Raphael Catholic Church have had necessarily a 
regular assistant, to aid in the work of the parish. Up to 1881, 
the assistant pastors have been the following, in their chronolog- 
cal order: Revs. J. S. Mahoney, J. A. Burns, C. M. B.erding, T. 
A. Conway. Francis ^lallon, J. L. Dickbons, Michael Abern and 
W. B. Miggeal. 

In June, 1873, Rev. W. H. Sidley, a native of ( Miio, became 
the principal incumbent of the priestly office for St. Rajihael's 
Church, and is reckoned as the fifth regular pastor. He has ably 
held the position till the present. On taking this charge he found 
a debt of $7,000, a small frame school house and no residence for 
the priest. He commenced the erection of a priest's house, which 
was completed June i, 1874, at a cost of about $7,000. In 1876 
he began to build the present fine school house, which is 45x82 
feet and three stories high, containing eight school rooms, besides 
a large hall in the third story, the full length and breadth of the 
entire building, for lectures and other purposes, to suit the wants 
of the congregation. This school house was finished in Septem- 
ber, 1877, and together with the lot upon which it was built, cost 
$19,000. 



70 CENTENNIAL OP 

In the Spring of 1892, the work of taking down the old brick 
edifice was commenced, in order to erect their present splendid 
stone church building, which was finished and the joyous event 
signalized by a golden jubilee on the 17th day of July, 1898, in 
which Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati, and numerous other 
clergy of various ranks (from different cities took part. The prin- 
cipal tower is 184 feet in height, entirely of stone, the top being 
reached by 156 steps. The tower containing the bell is 135 feet 
high. From either of these towers can be seen the whole city of 
Springfield and the entire surrounding country for many miles in 
every direction. This building, costing $75,000, is quite impres- 
sive on account of size and architectural beauty, and is a fine or- 
nament to the city. Father Sidley has been pastor of St. Raphael's 
Church for twenty-seven years, during which, as authoritatively 
stated, he has raised and paid out for buildings and the various 
kinds of furnishings for the church, about a quarter of a million 
dollars, every cent of which has been completely and satisfactorily 
accounted for. Were Springfield not situated so near to Colum- 
bus, it might, sometime in the not distant future, become the seat 
of a Bishopric. At all events, the citizens of Springfield would 
be glad to have Father Sidley remain here as a resident for life. 

ST. Bernard's catholic church. 

In September, 1861, the Germans of Springfield organized 
a congregation at 166 and 168 East Main street, and were minis- 
tered to for a few months by Rev. Messrs. Volmer and Manclerke, 
but the first regular pastor was Rev. William Dieters, who re- 
mained till 1866, and in February of that year was succeeded by 
Rev. J. Weissenberger. In 1868, Rev. J. H. Jutting became pas- 
tor, and was succeeded in 1869 by Rev. John Schugart, who im- 
mediately commenced building the present large and commodious 
edifice, which was finished in 1870, and was dedicated in July of 
that year by the Rt. Rev. Sylvester Rosencranz, of Columbus, 
Ohio. This church is 60x130 feet, located on the corner of Colum- 
bia street and Lagonda avenue, seats about 900 persons and cost 
$24,000. 

In 1874 Father Schugart built a school house and pastor's- 
residence, at a cost of $3,000. In 1880 this congregation num- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 71 

bered about 800 members. After Rev. Mr. Schugart, who served 
from Deceml)cr, 1869, to January, 1882, then came Rev. John D. 
Kress, from January, 1882, to September, 1887; '^- J- Fischer, 
from Septcniber, 1887, to the present time, August, 190 1. The 
churcli has now a membership of 250 famiUes, with an average 
attendance of about 800 persons. The Sunday school was or- 
ganized in 1863, wardens, teachers and scholars numbering in all 
280. 

ST. Joseph's church (catholic.) 

To accommodate the Catholic residents of Southeast Spring- 
field, and to furnish greater facilities for the practice of their re- 
ligion, it was evident that a new church and school were neces- 
sary. In i88r, three lots were purchased on the corner of Ken- 
ton street and Central avenue. In 1882 was begun the erection 
of a large three-story school house, the first story of which provid- 
ing a commodi».^us room suitable for church service. In Oc- 
tober, 1883, the school was opened and services held regularly 
in the church. St. Joseph's, the name of the new church, became 
independent in 1884, by which lime the congregation had a per- 
fect organization, l)oth in church and school, and were in all 
things able to work for themselves. 

Rev. C. ^l. Berding Avas the first pastor, and in a few years 
afterward he was succeeded by Rev. W. C. Conway, who re- 
mained in the pastorate from February i. 1895, till June, 1901, 
when he was called to take charge of a church in Cincinnati. 
During Mr. Conway's incumbency tlie sum of $45,000 had been 
taken in and expended on the expenses and debt. Furnishings 
and improvements were $13,000, and interest on borrowed money 
$8,000. Father Conway then raised sufficient money to build 
their present magnificent temple, and there was left only a moder- 
ate indebtedness. St. Joseph's parish consists of 250 families, 
or about 750 persons. Rev. Mr. Conway was succeeded as pastor 
by Rev. Mr. Loney, who took charge of the church about six 
weeks ago. 

UNITED BRETHREN. 

The first and only United Brethren Church of Springfield, 
now situated in the Lasfonda addition to the citv, was oriranized 



72 CENTENNIAL OF 

in March, 1843, ''>' K<-"^'- rjenjamin ]'.. Wheat, with a membership 
of seventy persons. This organization was effected at Newcomer 
Chapel, a httle north of the present city limits. The first iMiilding 
erected in Lagonda was in 1870, Rev. Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner 
preaching the dedication sermon. It cost $3,500, but was remod- 
eled and enlarged in 1883 at a furth.er cost of $5,000. In regard 
to the list of pastors, we find that the records before 1861 are not 
available, but Rev. Jacob M. jMarshall was pastor from 1861 to 
1864; Peter H. Davis, from 1864 to 1866; E. A. Hubbard, 1866- 
67; R. West, 1867-68; defect in the record of 1868-70; Rev. Wil- 
liam K. Albright, 1870-73; Chester Briggs, 1873-74; Thomas J. 
Bushong, 1874-77; William McKee, 1877-80; R. F. Powell, 1880- 
81; D. "w. McConkle, 1881-85; C. T- Burkert, 1885-89; E. W. 
Bowers, 1889-91; Thomas J. Bushong. 1891-94; George W. Ar- 
nold. 1894-97, and W. J. Pruner, 1897- 1901. 

The present membership is 321. The Sunday school was or- 
ganized in 1845, ^"cl now has an enrollment of 275 scholars, with 
an average attendance of about 200, including 15 officers and 24 
teachers. Erom this efficient church have been sent forth thir- 
teen ministers of the Gospel, of whom Rev. Drs. W. Shuey and 
Daniel Berger, both now of Dayton, and several other distin- 
guished embassadors of the Cross might be noted. 

CONGREGATION ALISTS. 

The next denomination to be noted in our general order is 
that of the Congregationalisls. In 1849 ^ f^'^'^' persons, mostly 
from the First Presbyterian Church, after many previous consul- 
tations, met at the home of Mr. Henry E. Smith on Wednesday 
evening, February 28, 1850, and resolved that it was expedient 
to organize a new church, to be called the First Orthodox Congre- 
gational Church of Springfield, Ohio. Within a few weeks they 
secured the services of Rev. J. C. White, a man of fine talents 
and deep piety, who was their first pastor. He remained with 
them till October, 1854. On the 27th 'of April following, an ec- 
clesiastcal council was called, and the church was formally organ- 
ized on the next day. 

Early in 1851 a good, eligible lot had been dedicated to the 
church by W. M. Spencer, the same as now occupied by it, and 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 73 

upon this was erected a l)uil(lin!^- at a cost of $3,700. The l)ase- 
ment of this new edifice was first occupied, October 31, 1851, af- 
ter having for awhile held their meetings in the City Hall. The 
church was dedicated, April 28, 1853, by Rev. Mr. Boynton, of 
Cincinnati. 

The entire debt of $3,500 w'as canceled in July, 1856. This 
was done during the pastorate of Rev. Hugh AIcLead, who served 
as pastor from May, 1855, to December, 1857. His successor, 
Rev. Edward Roote, served from October, 1859. to 1865. Rev. 
A. Hastings Ross then served from. February, 1866, to January. 
1873. During this time the Inilding was remodeled and in various 
ways improved, at an expense of $3,000. 

The subsequent pastors, with their terms of services, were 
as follows: Rev. Joseph L. Bennett, from April, 1873, to De- 
cember, 1874; Rev. William H. Warren, from September, 1875, 
to February 22, 1887, at which time, the church, which began 
with thirty-nine persons, had acquired a membership of 350. On 
March 25, 1887, Rev. S. T. Dunlap, of Hannbal, Mo., was called 
to the pastorate, and was installed on April 21st. following. Mr. 
Dunlap served until Arjgust, 1895, a period of eight years and 
five months. During this pastorate, besides the addition of many 
good, strong and earnest persons to their membership, was the 
building an equipment of their i)resent fine edifice, one of the 
most tasteful and convenient, in all its a])pointmcnts, of any in 
Springfield. 

Rev. E. A. Steiner, I'h. 1)., a scholarly gentleman, a native 
of Austria, but more recently from St. Paul, Minnesota, was 
called as pastor in April, 1896, and served until December, 1898. 
Rev. C. H. Small became pastor in April, 1899. and fully in- 
trenched in the hearts of. his people, he remains with them to the 
present. A vigorous Sunday school and a Christian Endeavor So- 
ciety has for years been kept up in connection with the church, 
the former with 182 enrolled scholars, and the latter with 56 
voung people. This church, during its existence of fifty years, 
has had nine pastors, their terms averaging about five and a half 
years each. 

LAOOXDA AVENUE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

A Mission Sundav school from the First Congregational 



74 CENTENNIAL OF 

Church was organized on Lagonda avenue during the year 
1883, and faithfully kept up by the labors of Edgar, Joanna 
and Lucy Fay, C. E. Folger, the Danforths, A, D. Vischer, J. L. 
Nelson, E. J. Vose, Jessie Rowe, Emma Catlin and others. 
Preaching was enjoyed by the little colony from time to time by 
Rev. W. H. Warren, of the First Congregational Church, and 
Rev. William E. Fay, of the West African Mission, who was 
temporarily home in this city. The work of this Sunday school 
culminated July 19, 1887, in the establishment of a regularlv 
constituted Congregational .Church. Soon after this W. W. 
Pierce was chosen pastor byj a unanimous vote, with a salary of 
$800. Mr. Pierce served until March, 1890, nearly three years. 

The pulpit was then supplied for several months by Revs. 
W. B. Marsh and Talmadge and l\Ir. Quaife, of Toledo. The 
next pastor was Rev. Ralph Albertson, who served from Novem- 
ber, 1891, to November, 1895. Rev. A. B. Woodruff next served 
as pastor from April i, 1896, to April i, 1899. The present pas- 
tor, W. N. Baker, began his work in April, 1899. Their new and 
enlarged building on a new lot was erected m 1894, and dedicated 
in June of that year. The church now embraces about 58 fami- 
lies, while the Sunday school represents 50 others, in addition. 

JEWISH CONGREGATION. 

The Jewish Congregation, or Ohev Zedukah, was organ- 
ized November 25, 1865, with about twelve male members, and 
worshiped in the Follrath Building, on West Main street, and 
after two or three removals, finally occupied their present posi- 
tion in the Johnson Building, on West Main street. The growth 
of the congregation has been quite slow. Quite a number of 
Russian Jews arrived here in the early seventies, but finding this 
congregation "too advanced," they organized themselves into 
what is called the Old Orthodox Congregation, and they now 
worship in King's Building, on Limestone street. 

The old Ohev Zedukah Congregation now have a male mem- 
bership of about thirty-two, and an organized Sunday school 
with about twenty attendants. They employ no regular minister, 
but have Divine services every Friday evening and Saturday 
morning, and also on holidays, led by L. Weixelbaum. They 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 75 

also have semi-monthly preaching by a rabbi from Dayton, Ohio. 
The Sabbath school is conducted by Misses Birdie Schoental and 
Dora Levy. The present officers of the Congregation are : AI. 
M. Kauffman, President; A. Aron, Vice President, and M. D. 
Levy, Secretary. Among the prominent leaders of this congre- 
gation in the past have been Rabbis Myers, Strouse, Freedman, 
Greenbaum and others. 

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. 

In August, 1878, a series of tent meetings was held by the 
Seventh-Day Adventist people, under the charge of Elders Wag- 
ner and Stone, at the close of which fifteen or sixteen persons 
formed a society for the purpose of keeping up regular worship, 
and they generally met in private houses. On the nth of Decem- 
ber, 1878, was effected an organization of the Seventh-Day Ad- 
ventists of Springfield, with a inembership of sixteen persons. 
They held their meetings for awhile at Allen's Hall, on Miami 
street, then at No. 25 1-2 East Main street. 

CHRISTADELPHIANS. 

The Christadelphian Society was formed in 1868, with a 
membership of about thirty persons. They met in various places, 
mostly in private houses, until they finally selected Central Hall, 
on the comer of Main and Center streets. They have no regular 
pastors, but all are free to preach, pray, exhort or sing as they 
feel inclined, on occasions of public worship. The principle lead- 
er of this little congregation for many years was Dr. William H. 
Reeves, then an active practitioner of medicine in this city. These 
people laid great stress upon the literal second coming of Christ 
to this earth in order to establish a physical, as well as moral and 
religious government, and that not many, if any, outside of their 
order of faith, will ever be raised in the resurrection of the dead. 
Owing to divisions among them, the number of persons be 
longing to this society are less now than formerly. They have 
never had a church building of their own, but their meetings have 
been kept up at irregular intervals to the present time. 



76 CENTENNIAL OF 



GRACE REFORMED CHURCH. 



Among our most lately developed religious organizations 
must be reckoned the Grace Reformed Church, which was formed 
in Temperance Hall, on West High street, November 19, 1895. 
with forty-six charter members, including, among others, Alex- 
ander Baker, Mrs. Susan Printz, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Smith, 
Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Smith, Louisa Hardcastle, Harry Hardcastle. 
Sarah Darner, David Garlinger, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Pemberton. 
They worshiped in Temperance Hall until November, 1896. when 
the old Trinity Baptist Building on the corner of Limestone and 
Mulberry streets, was rented and used until December, 1898, when 
the present building on Plum street was ready for use. This 
structure cost about $5,000, and was dedicated October i, 1899, 
with all the money to pay for it amply provided for. The sermon 
for the occasion was preached by the General Missionary Super- 
intendent, Rev. D. S. Fouse, of Lisbon, Iowa. Others who took 
part in the week's special services were Rev. J. W. Burghalter, 
of Dayton, Ohio; Rev. J. W. Bechtel, of North Hampton. Ohio; 
Rev. H. S. Geokler, of Xenia, and Rev. C. E. Miller, of Dayton, 
Ohio. 

Rev. J. C. Horning, then Sunday School Missionary, started 
the work at first, and remained with it until the final organization 
in November, 1895. Rev. S. B. Yockey, D. D., served as supply 
from the last-named date until May, 1896; then Rev. Mr. Hornmg 
again supplied from last date -until September i, 1896, when Rev. 
R. F. Shultz was commissioned by the General Board of Home 
Missions, to take charge of the church, and he has served till the 
present time. The church has now a membership of one hundred 
persons. There are enrolled in the Sunday school, including offi- 
cers, teachers and scholars, 147. This is the third effort to es- 
tablish a Reformed Church in this city, and seems to have Deen 
successful from the start. The organization is now thoroughly 
established, with a property worth at least $8,000, and all paid 
for. 

The foregoing sketches include the histories of forty 
churches, divided among sixteen different denominations. 

YOUNG men's christian ASSOCIATION. 

Beside the religious work acomplished by the various 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 77 

cluirclies mentioned in the foregoino" passes, much good has also 
been done in a similar line, especially of late years, by Christian 
Associations, Epworth Leag-ues, Christian Endeavor Societies, 
most of which have been intimately, if not organically connnected 
with those churches, J^ut of these auxiliaries in religious work. 
we shall take ocasion to mention only one, namely, The Young 
Men's Christian Association. 

In August, 1854, but little more than ten years after George 
Williams led in forming the London (Eng.) Association, and less 
than tliree years after Montreal organized one, Springfield, Ohio, 
joined this lay movement. Colonel E. M. Doty was the first 
President. Our Civil War was the occasion of merging many of 
these Associations into the Christian Commission Work of the 
Army, and thus was terminated their careers as separate bodies. 

The reorganization was effected at the High Street Metho- 
dist Church in the year 1868, when Dr. Isaac Kay was elected 
President and in a year or two was succeeded by Mr. E. W. Mul 
likin, and who in turn was succeeded by Prof. B. F. Prince. 

During this period the special outside work of the z\ssocia- 
tion was to hold services at the Jail and Station House at stated 
times, and to secure public meetings in the Summer months on 
Sunday afternoons in some one of the groves which at that day 
were found in the city. For three successive winters fine lecture 
courses were offered. Among those who appeared as speakers 
were John B. Gough, \A'endell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, Rev. 
Stephen Tyng, Jr., George Kennan, Charles F. Hall, the Arctic 
explorer, and others of much reputation. There being no gen- 
eral Public Library in the city then, the Association made a col- 
lection of books, containing more than eighteen hundred volumes. 

In 1872, the Association being pressed for funds, decided to 
relinquish its work. Its indebtedness, $300, was assumed by the 
Board of the new I'ublic Library, organized that year, and to 
which Board the cases and books of the Association were as- 
signed, the collection becoming the basis of our present magnifi- 
cent Library. 

In 1879 another organization for young men was formed. 
From this time until 1886 some important work was done by the 
Association, but owing to the difference of opinion as to what the 



78 CENTENNIAL OF 

real work of the Young Men's Christian Association ought to be, 
and also to the comparatively limited amount of financial sup- 
port received, but little advance was made toward the last in 
furtherance of its high purpose. Messrs. Rev. Hastings, J. S. 
Crowell, E. M. Doty and Dr. Thomas King were among the 
prominent leaders for -some years. 

On December 22, 1887, under advice of S. D. Gordon, Sec- 
retary of the State Committee, enlarged plans were adopted for 
a four-fold work, $6,500 were raised, and thus a new period be- 
^an in the history of the Association. Messrs. George H. Frey, 
H. S. Bradley, D. O. Fox, T. J. Kirkpatrick and Dr. J. H. Rodg- 
ers, successively have been President, and for most of this time, 
VV. J. Fraser has been the industrious and efficient General Sec- 
retary. In 1892 the number of members reached 1,001. In 1895 
the young men, themselves, gave $5,000 toward the purchase of 
a lot. In 1897 citizens completed the purchase of the lot, raising 
$12,000. In 1899 another fund, $5^,000, was pledged for the 
building, Ross Mitchell giving $5,000; Governor A. S. Bushnell 
$10,000, and E. S. Kelly $10,000. Over 600 persons contributed 
the balance. 

Dr. J. H. Rodgers, Robert Johnson, John Foos, Charles H, 
Pierce, R. Q. King, F. E. Snypp and W. S. Frazer constituted the 
Building Committee. The property, when completed, will have 
a value of near $100,000. 



SPRINGFIEF.D, OHIO. 7!» 

l\ 

FORMAL OPENING DAY. 

The formal opening;' of the Centennial occurred on Monday, 
the 5th. and proved to be one of the best days of the week. The 
various interests considered and represented touched the very life 
and growth of the city. The City Government, Manufactures 
and Mercantile Interests were sufficient to elicit the attention of 
all classes, and large numbers thronged the streets and found 
their way to the Fair Grounds, to witness the procession and to 
hear the papers appropriate to the day. 

A parade was part of the program, which, under the direc- 
tion of Chief Marshal E. N. Lupfer, assisted by a number of cit- 
izens acting as aides, proved an entertaining feature. There 
were numerous carriages conveying the General and Sub-Com- 
mittees, Mayor of the city, members of the City Council, of the 
School Board, Board of Public Affairs, Police and Fire Board, 
followed by machinery from many of the factories, in some cases 
showing articles made in the early history of the plant, together 
with those made now ; wagons and floats carrying lighter arti- 
cles manufactured in the city ; the Fire Department, with all its 
modern appliances for fighting fires, all gaily decorated and in 
iioliday attire. When formed into line they extended for more 
than a mile, and showed to the people that the interests of Spring- 
field were many, and that when aroused to action, she could 
make a display both entertaining and instructive. Bands of music 
were distributed throughout the parade column, which greatly en- 
livened the occasion. 

On reaching the Fair Grounds, the Chief Marshal and the 
various Committees and I'.oards ascended the reviewing stand 
and viewed the procession as it passed by, after which all repaired 
to the huge tent where the further exercises were held. Judge 
F. M. I lagan, with an eloquent address, formally opened the 
Centennial, and then introduced ex-Governor I'ushnell as Chair- 
man of the Day, who appropriately introduced those who had 
part in the program. Tiie papers were strong, and told a history 
at once useful and entertaining. 



80 CENTENNIAL OF 




.TITDGK FRANCIS M. HAGAN. 



ADDRESS OF JUDGE FRANCIS M. HAGAN, 



President of the General Committee, at the Opening of the First Centennial 
of Springfield, August 5, A. D. 1 90 1. 



Fello\\' Citizens : We are here to celebrate the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of the City of Springfield. Language can but 
feebly express the thoughts which press upon us as we contem- 
plate the history of our beloved city.- It is not for me to recount 
it in detail. Others, each with his chosen theme, will eloquently 
portray the striking events of a hundred years of her civic life. 

And yet it seems fitting, at the outset of this occasion, to 
glance for a moment at the City of Springfield, as a whole, dur- 
ing the century of her existence, as uoon a panorama, flashing 
with the speed of lightning before us. As we lift our eyes we 
see, first an unbroken wilderness, tenanted only by wild beasts 
and a few savages scarcely less wild. Then appear the pioneers 
of another race, rearing their humble log cabins. We look again 
and behold the primeval forest, with its little band of hardy set- 
tlers, changed as if by magic to a city great, prosperous and 
beautiful, the home of forty thousand souls in the forefront of 
civilized life. The bark wigwams of the Indian and the rude huts 
of the pioneers have given place to thousands of commodious 
structures, some palatial, all fit for happy homes. 

The stone implements of the red man and the primitive ap- 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 81 

pliances of his conqueror have alike heen supplanted hy the mvr- 
iad conveniences which mark the dawn of the Twentieth Cen- 
tury. The hmited harter of the first-comers with the natives of 
the adjacent forests, has swollen so that to-dav the wares made 
by our people encircle the g-lohe and their traffic is with the ends 
of the earth, hring-ing- back in exchang-e the choicest products of 
other climes. 

The dip lioht and the candle of one h.undred years ao^o are 
displaced l)y gas and electricity, which pour floods of illumina- 
tion along- our streets and into our dwellings. The winding trails 
here and there through the forests have disap]:)eared. hut in their 
places are miles of well-ordered streets, along which glide splen- 
did equipages and elegant cars, the carriages of the common peo- 
ple, carrying us everywhere within the city and far beyond her 
borders, while the great railroad systems which enter Springfield 
connect her with the remotest parts of the planet. Water 
brought from the X'alley of Lagonda refreshes verdant lawns, 
batfles the fire fiend,and gushes in every dwelling. 

The telegraph, flashes our thoughts as far as civilizaton ex- 
tends her sway, while the telephone enables us to hold instant 
converse with our fellow citizens in every part of the municipal- 
ity, and even with those separated from us by thousands of miles. 
We gaze once more and see giant factories, superb busmess 
blocks, a grand City Building, second to none in the great Com- 
monwealth of ( )hi(), a noble and well-filled Public Library, a fine 
Government lUiilding, a magnificent home for the Young Men's 
Christian .\ssociation, a thoroughly equipped Pul^lic Hospital, 
three Fraternal Homes on as many hills, a Cemetery which our 
renowned traveler, John W. IJookwalter, declares to be in some 
of its features, the finest in the world, and a I'ark hundreds of 
acres in extent, without a rival in its natural beauty, afifording rec- 
reation to all. We perceive that progress in intellectual, social 
and spiritual lines has not lagged behind material development ; 
for here are an efficient Public School System, Wittenl)erg Col- 
lege, the i)ride t)f our people ; great and enterprising newspapers, 
scores of literary clubs, polite and refined society, with a social 
chib house, whose elegance would do honor to an\- citv ; homes 
for aged members of the weaker sex and helpless children, sup- 



83 CENTENNIAL OF 

ported l)y the sacrifice and untiring zeal of saintly women, and, 
crowning all, half a hundred churches, whose spires and faithul 
ministers are ever pointing toward heaven. 

All these things are the heritage of a keen, alert, restless, 
inquiring, ambitious people, filled with the spirit of the age. 

Who, under God, has wrought the transformation from the 
wilderness to all these things, more wonderful than the poets who 
sang in the gray morning of time ever dreamed of? Its archi- 
tects appear in three generations of brave, loyal, devoted men 
and women. As they swiftly pass us in review, first come the 
sturdy figures of Demint, Foos, Tlumjibrey, Kenton and Low^-ey, 
others joining them year by year, laying their axes to the roots of 
the trees and hewing out the beginning of the city which was to 
be, not forgetting even in that far-off day to establish humble 
schools and churches, in recognition that intelligence, morality 
and religion are the firm foundations upon which the welfare and 
happiness of every community must rest. 

In the first decades, here and there an infant factory arises, 
prophetic of the future of Springfield. We, surrounded by all 
that comforts and adorns ci\'ilizcd life, in vain try to realize the 
toils, the privations and the hardships of the men who founded 
the city. As these veterans are about to leave the stage of life, 
the second generation marches to the rescue, led by the Whiteleys, 
the Fooses, the Vv'arders, the Snyders, the Ludlows, Mast, Mitch- 
ell,, the Barnetts, Thomas, Kelly, and their compeers, whose in- 
ventive and constructive genius has reared those vast hives of hu- 
man industry and developed those resources which have made 
the name of Springfield famous throughout the world. 

Marching shoulder to shoulder ^vith them are the men of 
the professions, skillful physicians caring for the bodies, and de- 
voted ministers, for the souls of men ; profound lawyers and jur- 
ists, vindicating human rights, and great educators and journal- 
ists, striving for intellectual improvement. Some of these grand 
men sre still with us, as witness Abram R Ludlow, John Foos, 
Ross Mitchell, Oliver S. Kelly and others, venerable men, who, 
as Webster said of the survivors of Bunker Hill, who stood lis- 
tening to ills immortal oration, "have come down to us from a 
former generation." May they long remain to guide us with 



SPRINGFIELD OHIO. 83 

their wise counsel and to enjoy the fruits of their labors. John 
and David Snyder passed away but yesterday, leavin.sf behind 
them for all the generations to follow, a precious legacy in Sny- 
der Park and a hospital service for the indigent. To the time 
of the second generation belong the Mitchell-Thomas Hospital 
and Warder Library. And now as that generation begins to go 
the way of all the earth, the third, the men of our own time, fills 
the breach. Among the works of their hands are industries mul- 
tiplied and expanded to almost fabulous proportions, material 
conveniences second to those of no other community ; asylums 
for the aged, the widows and the orphans of the three greatest 
benevolent orders in the world, and. finally, a splendid structure 
to house the Young Men's Christian Association, fitly marking the 
closing year of the first century of S])ringfield. 

Could we but call the roll of all the citizens of Springfield, 
from the day of James Demint to the present hour, and review 
each individual life, how gladly w'e should look upon the grand 
drama thus aflforded, in order that the due meed of praise might 
be awarded every one who has helped to make Springfield what 
it is. 

Here rise to view brave pioneers in James Demint, Griffith 
Foos. Simon Kenton, Humphreys, Lowry and Donnell ; suc- 
cessful manufacturers, some of whom are recalled by the names 
of Blakeney, Buch waiter, Bushnell, Foos, Crain. Gwynn, Hoppes, 
Johnson, Kelly, Leffel, Ludlow, Lupfcr, ^last, Mitchell. Patric, 
Rabbitts ,Rhinehart, Rodgers, Thomas, Warder. \\'hitely, Mon- 
tanus. Winger; astute business men by those of Bacon, Baldwin, 
Black, Barnett, Blee. Burk, Benalleck, Carson, Cartmell, Crowell, 
Diehl, Cobaugh, Fox, Harshman, Jefteries, Kirkpatrick, 
Meredith. McGrew, Phelps, Pierce. Seitz, Webb, Wiseman, Zim- 
merman ; a fertile inventor in William N. Whitely ; experts m 
getting Fraternal Homes for Springfield in Pearl M. Cartmell 
and Charles W. Constantine ; profound jurists in William Rog- 
ers, John C. Miller. William \\'hite, Charles Anthony, Samson 
Mason and Samuel A. Bowman ; a great statesman and lawyer 
in Samuel Shellabarger ; a citizen renowned in law. in states- 
manship and in war, in General Joseph Warren Keifer, once occu- 
pying the third highest station in the gift of his ccnmtrymen; a 



84 CBNTENNIAL OF 

world-famous advocate of tenii)erance in Mother Stewart ; phi- 
lanthropists in Benjamin H. Warder, John and David L. Snyder, 
Edward S. Kelly and Asa Bushnell, who also enjoys the distinc- 
tion of having been the best Imsiness (lOvernor Ohio ever had ; a 
philosopher and traveler known throughout the world in the 
person of John W. Bookwalter : able journalists in William (j. 
Boggs, William T. Cogshall and Clifton M. Nichols ; artists in 
the Frankensteins and Jerome Uhl, who have made the canvas 
glow with life and beauty ; gifted authors in General Keifer, 
John W. Bookwalter, Robert Brain and Minnie Williss Baines 
Miller; and brilliant scholars in a Sprecher, an Ort, a Brecken- 
ridge, a Keller, a Prince and a Geiger. 

The list might be swollen to include hundreds of others 
worthy of special mention. Yet not alone have the great charac 
ters of our city wrought to build it. Every toiler in the office, in 
the shop, at the counter, on the street, or on a farm, in the ad- 
joining region, lias done his or her part in the great work. 
Wherever, in any capacity, however humble, men or women have 
done well their appointed tasks, putting the best of themselves 
into their calling, they should be awarded praise. The lives of 
patient, toiling, noble men and women may fade from earthly rec- 
ollection, but they dwell imperishably in the mind of God, and 
leave their lasting impress on the world. 

"All are architects of fate, 

Workir^g in these walls of time ; 

Some with massive deeds and great. 

Some with ornaments of rhyme."' 

We should be false to those who have gone before us, false 
to ourselves, false to our Heavenly Father, if in this hour of our 
Centennial Jubilee we failed to recognize all worthy effort and 
aspiration in the lives of those whose labors have given us what 
we enjoy. 

Many of the builders of S])ringfaeld sleep in xonder Ceme- 
teries. If they could come back to us, but for a day, how gladly 
should we greet them. It may be permitted them in another 
sphere of existence to look upon this scene with joy, though their 
forms are invisible to mortal eves. lUit let us be aniniated by 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 85 

the mig-htv si)irit of all those, livinii" or dead, that have toiled 
here. W'e rejoice in the triumphs of peace which our city has 
won. We rejoice that when war clouds hovered over the land, 
Springfield sent regiment after regiment to the defense of an 
imperiled Union, and that she has never hesitated to obey our 
country's call to arms. But let us turn our eyes from the glorious 
past and meet the great responsibilities of the ever urgent present, 
while we look with bright ho])e and unshaken confidence to the 
future. 

Long ere the second Centennial of Springfield, we shall have 
passed awav. Even our children will then have finished their 
earthly career; but. as our children's children gather, it may be 
on this verv spot, to celel)rate that day. may they say of us and 
of the dear ones we leave behind, as we can now say of those who 
have gone before us. "They did their part well in their day and 
generation." And now. l)y the authority of the General Com- 
mittee having this great event in charge, and on behalf of all the 
people of Springfield, I declare this Centennial Celebration open. 



86 CENTENNIAL OP 




HON. ORAN F. HTTES. 



A CENTURY OF COMMERCIAL LIFE. 



BY HON. ORAN F. HYPES. 

''Over the roofs of the Pioneers 
Gathers the moss of a hundred years ; 
On man and his works has passed the change 
That needs must be in a century's range. 
The land Hes open and warm in the sun, 
Anvils clamor and mill wheels run ; 
Flocks on the hill side, herds on the plain, 
The wilderness gladdens with fruit and grain." 

The story of Springfield's century of business is, in minia- 
ture, the story of the life of the Nation. Our beginning was in 
the single log house erected in 1799 by James Demint, who had 
journeyed hither from Kentucky, and built his cabin home on the 
north bank of Buck Creek. On March 17, 1801, Mr. Demint, as- 
sisted by two others — Mr. Griffith Foos and Mr. John Daugherty — 
attracted by the favorable location, laid out the town. Tradition 
accredits the wife of Simon Kenton with sus'gesting the name — 
Springfield. From this humble Ijeginning, Springfield, in a single 
century, has become a city known throughout the length and 
breadth of the world — wherever the torch of civilization has en- 
lightened the peoples of the earth. 

In an address delivered at Yellow Springs, in 1829, at a pub- 
lic dinner given in his honor, the Hon. Edward Everett, in speak- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 87 

mg of our early patriots and pioneers, used these words: "It is 
only when we consider what they found this country, and what 
they have handed it down to us, that we learn the efficacy of pub- 
lic and private virtue, of wise counsel, of simple manners, of fru- 
gal habits, and an inborn love of liberty." 

Folic )wino- tb.e building- of Demint's humble home, Griffith 
Foos hewed out and built &x first tavern. It was opened for 
business in June. i8or. In this bouse the first preaching- service 
was held two years later. I'.efore embarkino- in business, Mr. 
Foos secured at the lo^ Court House in Xenia, the necessary 
license for keeping; tavern, the fees beino- eight dollars. In 1804, 
the town had a dozen or more houses. In addition was a settle- 
ment of some fourteen cabins at a fort and blockhouse just north 
of town, and other settlements to the west. T.usiness was con- 
ducted by Ci. B. Fields, as a cabinet-maker, near ^lain and Mar- 
ket. Opposite was John Reed's cooper shop. Near the other cor- 
ner was another tavern, whose proprietor is alleged to have been 
• an old colored man named Toney. Mr. Stowe kept a grocer>^ 
store. Near Limestone street, a large, two-story log house served 
as a blockhouse in the alarms from Indian raids. Wearing apparel 
was dispensed by two Frenchmen, the firm name being LeRoy & 
DeGrab— the name of the junior meml)er having no reference, it 
is presumed, to their business methods. 

INDI.\XS .\ MENACE. 

'T)Ut these are gone 
Like the night's dark shade before the rising dawu." 

For the first decade, Springfield failed to develop and realize 
on that energy and pluck that, in later years, has marked her pros- 
perity. The reason may readily be found in the feeling of inse- 
curity from the Indian depredations. Tecumsch, a son of our 
county, and his band of braves were a constant menace, to some 
of whom plunder or murder was but a pastime. Treaty after 
treaty could not stay their treacherous hand. What tribute shall 
we pay those brave and daring i)ioneers to whom toil and ])riva- 
tion was not all of life? Fearlessly and patiently they wrought 
as did the children of Israel under Xehemiah. "Every one with 



88 CEiNTENNIAL OF 

his own hand wron^ht in tlie work, and witli the other liand held 
a wea])on. For the buiklers every one had his sword girded bv 
his side, and so l)uilded." 

THE INDIAN X'lLI.AGKS. 

That Springfield \\as a favored spot before the dawn of civil- 
ization, is readily established, in the location near by of the Indian 
villages of Chillicothe and Piqua. At the latter village, west of 
town, when destroyed by General George Rogers Clark, in 1780, 
some three hundred acres of Indian corn were under cultivation. 
In fact, the first shipment ever made from what is now Clark 
County consisted of a cargo of i)rovisions. They were loaded bv 
David Lowry into a fiat boat, Iniilt by himself in 1800, placed upon 
the waters of the Big Miami, and thence taken to New Orleans. 
Provisions thus sent were usually exchanged for sugar. The In- 
dians did not cease to be a threatening factor, retarding the 
growth and prosperity of the village, until (General Harrison se- 
cured peace to the frontier in his famous victory at Tippecanoe. 
Tecumseh, brilliant, brave, but sullen — no longer able to incite 
nor harass the settlers of Springfield, nor }et impede the wheels 
of progress — but ever ''against the government," met his final 
fate while enlisted as England's all\- in the War of 1812. 

OL'R NAT1\T: W halt II. 

The early forests ])roved to be a friendlv factor, not so much 
as a pronounced article of trade and commerce, as in furnishing 
abundant sup])l:es for building material and fuel. A liberal 
growth of beech, (jak, ma])le. walnut, ash, and hickory, have, until 
recent years, served as an ami:)le source of local sup]:)ly. One part 
of the country, the northwest, has long been known as the 
"P)eech."' It was the mecca of man\- of those sturdy English folk 
who are a credit to any community. The story was told me re- 
cently, by an old resident, of the arrival in New York years ago 
of a small grou]) ni the early English settlers, who, upon being 
asked their destination, innocently re])lied "The I'cech." and 
asked where they might find it. 

'"Springfield limestone," as it is known, has proven thus far 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 89 

our only source of mineral weallli. In the absence of underlying' 
coal, oil or gas, our stone quarries have proven no small factor in 
commercial life. The strata of rock averaging thirteen feet thick 
lias been quarried for sixty years. (At present 250 men are erii- 
]:»loyed in four quarries. In the half-century of their work- 
ings, thousands of cars of stone have been quarried, much of it 
having been reduced to lime. Shi])ments have been made as far 
south as New Orleans.) At one time Springfield limestone was 
the standard finishing rock for this part of the countr}-. 

E.\RLY WATKK PO\\K.R. 

Our lim])id streams, Mill Run and I'.uck Creek, in earlier 
days served as a prime factor in ])lacing Springfield upon the 
ma]) as the center of commercial and manufacturing activity. 
With all due respect to those noble streams of the past, they may, 
in the absence of the rushing current that once filled their banks 
and turned our factor}- wheels, still serve the sanitary needs of 
modern Springfield, with even greater value than afYorded by 
their water power of other years. 

At the formation of Clark County, and Springfield as the 
County Seat, in 1818, the picture presented is not a liopetul one. 
Mr. Robert Woodward, in his. sketches of Springfield, gives this 
summary: "The west liank of Mill Run was an exceedingly 
muddy and miry place. In crossing to go to the eastern ])art of 
town, it was not only necessary to wade through the mud and mire 
and cross the stream on a foot log, but also ascend the east bank, 
which was quite steep. It was no uncommon thing there to see 
horses and wag-ons drive close up to the doors of dwellings." He 
speaks also of a low state of morals, which is verified by other 
writers. The product of the "still" had not .only furnished "fire 
water" to their Indian neighbors, all citizens more or less sharing 
the ill results therefrom, but was being felt also in drunkenness 
and brawling among the inhabitanis. "llut amidst all," says Mr. 
Woodward, "were men of upright, firm character, who did much 
by their influence and exertions to stem the rapid progress of 
iniquity in the community." 

OLR \1I.I..\C.F, U.WS. ■ 

In 1820 came that leavening and enlightening force and pow- 



90 CENTENNIAL OF 

erful aid to business, "the printing" press." After varying owner- 
ships, the first pubHcation of influence was the Western Pioneer. 
In 1825, with a vim and vigor creditable to modern journaHsm, 
the paper brought about the adoption of street lamps. They cost 
$25.00 each. The expense of maintaining them was a tax of 
I? 1-2 cents, collected from each house, to pay for oil and wick — 
the lamp to be cleaned by the family nearest in location. About 
this time, in addition to several mills producing flour, woolen and 
cotton products, there were eight stores, and several lawyers and 
phvsicians. Tn the county was a population of 9,533. Shortly after 
Springfield was incorporated as a village (by act of Legislature. 
January 2^, 1827), the first complete census was taken of which 
we have any record. That enterprising paper, the Western Pio- 
neer, in its issue of September 28, 1828, said: 'A\^e have for the 
information of our readers and our own gratification, taken the 
pains to enumerate the population of our village. There are in 
Springfield 935 souls — 6 blacksmith shops, with 15 hands; 4 
wagon shops, with 13 har.ds ; 4 shoemaker shops, with 9 hands; 
3 tanneries, with 8 hands ; 6 tailor shops, with 18 hands : 3 saddle 
shops, with 10 hands; 3 bakeries, with 5 hands; 2 hatter shops, 
with 6 hands ; 3 cabinet shops, with 8 hands ; i tin shop, with 4 
hands ; 3 cooper shops, with 10 hands ; 2 chair shops, wdth 5 
hands ; 14 stores, with ^2 hands ; 4 groceries, with 4 hands ; i pa- 
per mill, with 20 hands ; i gun shop, with 3 hands." 

In addition, the census showed 3 brickyards, 2/ carpenters, 

1 clockmaker, 3 butcheries, 2 distilleries, 4 attorneys, 5 physicians, 

2 sign and i portrait painter, and i extensive flour mill. Incident- 
ally, they mention 4 schools, a courthouse, brick jail, 3 churches, 
their own printshop and "a postoffice at which 24 mails are re- 
ceived weekly in elegant four-horse coaches." 

During the period of our village life we grew from 935 in- 
habitants in 1828 to 5,109, reaching the latter figure in 1850, when 
the city charter was granted. Compared with the rapid growth 
of large cities in the far West, this increase, covering a period of 
twenty-two years, is not startling. Manufacturing, however, that 
was lo prove the keynote of our prosperity, was just beginning 
to assert its influence.' We are in reality celebrating a half-cen- 
tury of preparation and a half-century of real progress. Having 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 91 

ratified the city charter, one of the first steps toward metropoHtan 
manners was the aboHshing of the oil street lamps and the adop- 
tion of gas light — on the evening of April 4, 1850, the city was 
first lighted with gas. The price was $6 per thousand cubic feet. 
Fifty years later the same gas company supplies us at $1 per thou- 
sand. The needs of the city now require a gross output of nearly 
sixty million cubic feet annually among 2,172 consumers. In 
addition, 2,600 consumers use natural gas for fuel at 25 cents per 
thousand. The supply coming originally from Mercer County, 
but latterly from the Fairfield County gas fields, seventy-five 
miles distant. 

ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANTS. 

With characteristic energy. Springfield was among the first 
cities to adopt electric light. To William A. Scott, Esq., Theo. 
Troupe, Charles H. Pierce and others may be attributed the first 
efifort in this direction. Two thousand dollars were raised in $100 
shares, when, in 1882, the plant was established in the Driscol 
Carriage Factory. The original price of $150 per year for street 
arc lights of 2,000 candlepower has been reduced more than half. 
In the city streets 306 such lights are now used, in addition to 600 
gas posts. Upwards of 8,000 incandescent lights are used in 
stores and residences, 230 miles of wire being necessary for this 
service. The Kelly light and heating plant is recently established- 
with additional capacity for commercial electric lighting and 
steam heating. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

"Still from the hurrying train of life 

Fly backward far and fast. 
The milestones of the fathers — 

The landmarks of the past." 

As a means of develop^ing our own resources, and marketing 
them upon the world, transportation is a most important factor. 
Clark County has well developed roadways. They were not al- 
ways so. When Griffith Foos and his small party, in 1801, blazed 
their way through forest and over stream, they made the first wag- 



92 CENTENNIAL OF 

on tracks leading into Springfield from the east. About the saine 
year, Mr. Foos assisted Daniel Lowry and John Daugherty in 
surveying the first road out of Springfield. It led to Da}' ton, and 
was possibly over the trail cut by Cleneral Goerge Rogers Clark 
some twenty years earlier, when he led his brave baud cf Ken- 
tuckians in the destruction of the Indian village of Piqna. Of 
material benefit, from a commercial standpomt, was the comple- 
tion in 1832 of the National Road, which event was duly cele- 
brated at the time. This brought Springfield prominently before 
the State and country, as a stopping point on that great channel 
of early commerce and travel. Crossing the 412 square miles in 
Clark County to-day are 312 miles of county turnpikes, in addi- 
tion are the township and county roads, aggregating 498 miles, 
making a grand total of 810 miles of improved roadways in the 
county. The measurements have been supplied after much effort 
through the courtesy of the various townshi]:) clerks and trustees 
and the County Commissioners, and now appear for the first tmie. 
They tell their own story as a feature of internal improvements 
being a wise means of developing our own resources : Bethel 
Township, 39 miles ; German Township, ^^ miles ; Green Town- 
ship, 55 miles ; Harmony Township, 50 miles ; Madriver Town- 
ship, 47 miles; Moorefield Township, 49 miles; Madison 
Township, 66 miles ; Pike Township, 30 miles ; Pleasant Town- 
ship, 45 miles ; Springfield Township, 84 miles. 

OUR RAILWAY SYSTEMS. 

Assisting in our development, at the beginning of the last 
half-century, was the opening of the railroad era. On August 6, 
1846, the engine "Ohio" whistled its greeting to Springfield, ar- 
riving on the tracks of the "Little Miami" Railroad, the first train 
following on August 11. Tw^o years later the "Mad River" road 
was completed, connecting Springfield with Lake Erie. In 1851 
the Springfield and Dayton road was finished. Later the Spring- 
field and London, also the Springfield and Pittsburg. The last 
line completed was the road to the coal fields, originally the 
Springfield, Jackson and Pomeroy, now. with northern exten- 
sions, known as the Detroit Southern. Springfield capital was 
largelv instrumental in its buildine. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 93 

STREET CAR TRAFFIC. 

Our adventure in street car traffic began in 187 1. The orio;-- 
inal line was built from Limestone street west on High to Dayton 
road. P. P. Mast, George Spence. Esq., and others were its chief 
backers. The road was a bonanza when the State Fair was held in 
Springfield, but the patronage thereafter did not pay "horse feed." 
Three years later Mr. Charles A. Harris bought the entire outfit — 
roadway, three cars and "gondola," also the motor power, consist- 
ing of nine familiar mules and two horses, at sheriff's sale, for 
the sum of $2,200. Street car traffic began in earnest when the 
Citizen Company was organized in 1882. The lines were ex- 
tended and a fair service rendered. In 1891, Mr. I. Ward Frey 
successfully inaugurated the first electric street railway, having 
received a franchise to the North Side. The line was later merged 
into the Citizens" Line, and the whole system became electric in 
1892. The stock of the present company is controlled largely by 
Eastern capital, yet the management have been fortunate thus far 
in reducing loss of life and property to a minimum. The result 
may further be accounted for in the faithful service given by com- 
petent employees. The company employs 100 men with an equip- 
ment of thirty cars and twenty-nine miles of track. They carried 
during 1900 an average of 12,427 persons daily, transferring to 
any part of the city upon a single five-cent fare. 

The latest development in transportation lies in the inter- 
urban electric lines. By this system Springfield has added facili- 
ties in reaching hourly and cheaply the surrounding cities of Day- 
ton, Urbana and Xenia. The latter line is under construction as 
well as a branch to London and Columbus, with other lines in 
project. The Dayton, Springfield & L^rbana, completed in 1900, 
has general offices in Springfield, under competent management. 

Sl'RIXC.FIELD A KAILWAV CENTER. 

With the development of our manufacturing and commercial 
interest came the need of a proper railway outlet for our products. 
V)\ the consolidation of various roads, we also became a junction 
point on the Big Four (C. C. C. & St. L.) system. From the 
small showing at the start, when our freight cars were shifted 



94 CEINTENNIAL OB^ 

about by horsepower, and the vigorotis voice of the driver, the 
returns this year show more than forty miles of yard and sichng 
track in use, in addition to 121 miles of main tracks crossing' the 
county. The service of eleven yard or switch engines is required 
to handle our shipping. 

The total number of trains arriving and departing dail}- by 
the various lines are thirty-six passenger and forty freight. 
While an accurate record of passengers carried by the various 
lines for the period of a year is not easily ascertained, yet from 
the best data obtainable, by careful computation, one hundred and 
thirty-four thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight passengers 
were carried out of Springfield during the year 1900. This covers 
the Big Four, Pennsylvania and Detroit Southern roads. In jxiint 
of revenue, Springfield is the fifth city on the entire Big Four 
system, being exceeded only bv Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago 
and -St. Louis. In passing, it may be well to state as a matter of 
current history, that the stations supplied by all of the roads enter- 
ing Springfield, for the use of their patrons, would, if placed on 
public sale, scarcely bring a sufficient price to pay for tlicir tearing- 
down and hauling away. 

WHAT WK SAY TO THE W^ORLD, AND HOW WE SAY IT. 

When the Springfield postoffice was established in 1804, 
"mail day" came but once a week. Couriers from Cincinnati car- 
ried the mail into the great Northwest. In 1823. when the horse 
and saddle bags were supplanted in the mail service by a four- 
horse coach and a daily mail, the inhabitants were filled w-ith [par- 
donable pride. Perhaps there is no more certain indication of 
business conditions than the postal service. The appended record, 
secured through the courtesy of our si)lendid postmaster, Mr. 
James II. Rabbitts, would indicate a healthy business relation be- 
tween Springfield and the outer world. \\'e receive and dispatch 
daily ninety-two mails. This deimands the service of seventy-two 
emplo3'ees, about equally divided as to carriers and clerks. Fol- 
lowing is the postoffice record for the year ending June 30, 190 1 : 
Total mail, first class, handled during year, about 11,650,000. 
This would indicate an average of about 300 letters per year for 
every man, woman and child in SiiringfieUl. In second-class mail 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 95 

nearh iwo thousand tons were sent, our office on this class rank- 
ing sixteenth in the United States. Following is the financial 
showing: 

POSTAL RICCOKDS CURRENT YEAR. 

Gross receipts for year $127,698 76 

Expenses for year 44-361 91 

Net revenue for year $ 83,336 85 

Money orders issued, 12,254; amount $ 83.774 93 

Money orders paid, 164.618; amount 394-014 54 

Special delivery le.ters received 6,775 

Special delivery letters sent 4-837 

Total 11-612 

Number of registered pieces received ^%7^1 

Number of registered pieces sent 5-^34 

Total 3^,551 

OUR TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE. 

In addition to this enormous "mail" output, our business is 
sufficiently urgent at times as to require the handling during last 
year of 135,402 telegrams, together with 78,936 messages sent and 
received over the long-distance telephones. Our foreign transac- 
tions require the use of 769 cable messages during the year. The 
office of the Atlantic. Lake and :\Iississippi telegraph was opened 
in Springfild in 1847. Our esteemed and useful citizens, George 
H. Frey, Sr. (now retired), and John W. Parsons, Superinten- 
dent of the Ohio Masonic Home, \vere early telegraph operators. 
From a report sheet of 1849, I estimate at about eight the average 
daily messages sent during that year. Upon that report, as pa- 
trons, appear the honored names Rodgers. ^^^^itely, r.uckingham. 
Mason, and Thompson. 

Our telephone exchange dates from 1882. with fifty original 
subscribers. The same company under the "P.ell" patent, have 
grown into their own new stone-front building, with the most 
modern equipment of any exchange in the country. Eighteen 
hundred and fifty subscribers make a daily average of 24.600 calls 



96 CENTENNIAL OF 

by day, and 6.400 night calls. iM-oni the crude service at the be- 
ginning, when communication could be had with outside points 
only with considerable effort and patience, the new copper line 
service of to-day renders conversation with Xew York or Chicago 
as plain and satisfactory as though in an adjacent room. The 
original price of $6 per month for stores, and $5 for residences, 
has been reduced one-half, while the service rendered has been 
brought to the highest standard of their time. Competing lines 
are now seeking franchises, and the universal use of the tele])hone 
seems but the question of a few years. 

COMMKRCE. 

The beginning of our second centurv finds almost everv 
branch of business thoroughly represented. There is scarcelv 
anything necessary to modem human needs that cannot be sup- 
plied reasonably and well in S]:)ringfield. Our food supplies — 
largely the product of our own county — are usually as good as 
can be obtained on the face of the earth. In addition to a market 
house with tiled floor and clean apartments, more than two hun- 
dred grocers, bakers, milkmen, etc., find business employment in 
meeting the needs of table supplies. The bakers send out ten 
thousand loaves of bread daily. Eighty physicians stand 
ready to answer the calls of the afflicted from any over-indulgence 
in the good things of life, or the ailments to which the human 
flesh is heir; also "Scientists," who are equally ready to dissolve 
the illusion that there are any bodily infirmities, save as they exist 
only in the mind. In ])uil(ling operations, the entire structure. 
from foundation to girder or roof, may be constructed with home 
products and labor. House furnishings, from furnace to fres- 
coes, with all the comforts of home, are easily available in our 
midst. The adornment of the body and bodily comforts, are very 
largely and earnestly cared for by competing houses, whose ap- 
peal for business often exhausts the vocabulary of self-praise. In 
such unseemly strife, over seventy-six lawyers and eight under- 
takers seem content to ply their vocations after the busy actors of 
the stage of business life shall have closed their career and passed 
on to their reward. 

The year 1900 was unquestional^ly the largest business year 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 97 

of our existence — the output of merchants, artisans and trade- 
people generally, reaching into the millions. To reach an accurate 
estimate of moneys thus invested, is an undertaknig not easily 
solved. Personal interview with more than twelve hundred per- 
sons so engaged, seemed a hopeless and even unprofitable task. 
Returns to the County Auditor did not cover all, while reports to 
mercantile agencies might indicate a variance with taxation re- 
turns. From a careful review from each business interest, aside 
from manufacturing, the table appended gives a reasonably fair 
showing of moneys so invested. Where two or more lines of mer- 
chandise are sold in the same store, the busii-^^ss is listed under its 
principal item. 

Agents — No. Invested. 

Insurance Brokers and Real Estate. . . 62 ^ 42,500 

Merchants — 

Agricultural 5 20,000 

Bicycles, guns, etc 8 21,000 

Booksellers, etc 5 26,800 

Boots and shoes 8 70,00c 

China and queensware 7 37,ooo 

Cigars 38 13.500 

Clothing, etc 12 148,000 

Coal 31 78,000 

Commission 5 21,000 

Confectionery 18 18,500 

Druggists 19 94,000 

Dry goods 6 300,000 

Electrical supplies 3 1.500 

Fish dealers 2 loOO 

Flour and feed 12 10,500 

Furniture 8 74,800 

Grocers (wholesale) 3 250,000 

Grocers (retail) 133 206,250 

Hats and caps 3 35,ooo 

Grain 3 30,000 

Hardware and builders' supplies 7 192,000 

Jewelry and watches to 62,000 

Meats ( wholesale) t 12.000 

Meat markets 38 19,000 

Lumber, etc 7 1 10,000 

Milliners 11 35,000 

Oil dealers 7 30,000 



CENTENNIAL OF 



Merchants — 

Paper and notions (wholesale) i 

Paint stores 2 

Pawnbrokers 3 

Pianos and organs 2 

Pumps 4 

Plumbers 5 

Plumbers' supplies (wholesale) i 

Rags and j unk 5 

Second-hand y 

Sewing machines 4 

Stoves and tinware 5 

Tailors » 14 

Tailor shops 10 

Tea and coffee 4 

Totals 478 

Artisans and Other BHsi)icss — 

Architects 5 

Artists 10 

Barbers 55 

Bakeries 27 

Blacksmith and horse shoeing 21 

Business colleges 2 

Boot and shoe repairers 34 

Brick contractors 10 

Carpenter contractors 38 

Carpet weavers 4 

Painters 31 

Cooper shops 4 

Dairies 9 

Dentists 22 

Draymen and transfer wagons 25 

Dressmakers 123 

Dyers 2 

Feather renovaters 3 

Laundries 7 

Marble works 3 

Pattern Makers 4 

Photographers 7 

Plasterers q 

Undertakers 8 

Upholsterers 4 

Totals 467 



35,000 

10,000 

3,000 

1 1 ,000 

1,500 

48,000 

20,000 

12,000 

2,700 

3,000 

4,000 

20,800 

1,000 

5,000 

$2,126,850 



3,000 

1,000 

14,000 

39.500 
5-850 
2,000 
1,700 

10,000 

19,000 
300 

16,000 

300 

9,000 

11,000 

9.000 

5,000 

3,000 

300 

26,000 

6.000 

500 

7,000 

4,500 

25,000 
1,000 

$ 219.950 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 99 



Other Business Places — 

Boardin.sf houses 43 

Hotels g 

Livery staliles jf, 

Restaurants jg 

Saloons ■■ 122 56,000 



1,200 
55.700 
51,000 

7,000 



25,000 



42,500 



Liquor (wholesale) c 

^'O'^^^S 272 $795,900 

Summary of all Business Pursuits. 

Exclusive of Manufacturing — 

Agents and hrokers 62 $ 

Artisans and tradesmen 467 219 gcjo 

Merchants 478 2,126,850 

Other business places 212 195.900 

Totals 1219 $2^y2'oo 

Without a special enumeration, the number of persons em- 
ployed in these various branches could not be ascertained. 

WE ARE ''sound'' FINANCIALLY. 

In the rise and fall of the business world, Springfield can take 
pardonable pride in her financial institutions. During the dark 
days of depression, our finances have been a Gibraltar of strength 
to the community. 

On January 22, 1847, the Mad River Valley branch of the 
State Bank opened its doors for business. Levi Rinehart was 
president and J. T. Claypole, cashier. In 185 1, "The Springfield 
Bank" was organized with Oliver Clark, president, and W. T. 
McMeans, cashier. Today we have five National Banks with an 
aggregated capital of one million dollars, and nearly five thousand 
depositors. Their published statements, as called for bv the 
Comptroller of the Currency on July 15, 1901, show the following 
results : 

Loans and Deposits subject 

discounts. to check. 

$1,135.200 First National $1,020,900 

504,900 Mad River National 448.800 

303,000 Lagonda National 360,900 

243,700 Springfield National 208.800 

361,700 Citizens' National 421,200 

$2,548,500 $2,460,600 

L.cFC. 



100 CENTENNIAL OF 

In addition to the five thousand citizens using the National 
Banks, as depositors, our Springfield Savings Bank appeals more 
strongly to the masses, by reason of the payment of interest on 
deposits— at present, 3 per cent. Organized in 1873, the Savings 
Bank, under the safe and splendid management that has always 
marked its career, has become a public benefactor. From 730 de- 
positors at the end of the first year, their records show 9,808 de- 
positors at the beginning of the current year. Since its organiza- 
tion, more than three-quarters of a million dollars in interest has 
been paid to their customers. During 1900, their deposits in- 
creased a quarter-million dollars, indicating a comfortable finan- 
cial growth among the wise and prudent. 

BUILDING AND LOAN. 

Next to the Savings Bank in popularity are the Building and 
Loan Associations — "The Springfield," organized in 1884, and 
"Merchants' and Mechanics'." organized in 1892. During the 
years of their career, hundreds of homes have been built by the. 
proceeds of careful savings fostered by their managements. 

An aggregate showing of the several depositories is a most 
convincing argument that our citizens who so desire are more 
thrifty, and laboring classes under happier conditions than the 
toilers of continental Europe. The appended list tells the old 
story : "Take care of the dimes, and the dollars will take care of 
themselves" : 



Number depositors in National Banks 5,000 

Number depositors in Savings Bank 9,808 

Number depositors in Building and Loans 6,100 

Total depositors 20,908 



Our total wealth, as shown by the tax returns 

for 1901, is: City ' $18,045,280 

That of the county for the same time 14,997.236 

Total, city and county, for 1901 $33,042,522 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 101 

A general summary of the investments in Springfield com- 
mercial life in 1901 — aside from manufacturing — may be conser- 
vatively stated as follows : 

Banks $2,460,600 

Building and Loan 1.025,000 

"'Gas Plant and Natural ( ias System 800,000 

*EIectric Light Plants 300,000 

*Telegraph Company 50,000 

*Telephone Company 100,000 

*Express Companies 5.000 

*Street Railway Companies (in county) 500.000 

*Steam Railways (in county) 3,750,000 

Merchants, artisans, etc 2,585,200 

*Owned. in part or entirely by outside capital. 

Evidences are not wanting that we are sharing materially in 
the general prosperity that has followed the economic, as well as 
patriotic policies, of President AEcKinley. An abstract secured 
from the County Recorder shows that during 1901 the county 
made a net gain in cancelled mortgages of $2,388,027. 

What Springfield has wrought as a business city has been 
achieved amid the trials of a busy centur}\ We have had to 
confront the Indian question. We have had to stop the wheels of 
progress for wars at home and abroad. Be it said to the lasting 
fame of our city and county, that the sordid spirit of com- 
mercial gain has never yet suffered her people to falter at their 
country's call. We have .passed through the fires of financial 
panic. We have suffered the furies of the tornado and cyclone; 
yet Springfield greets the dawning of her second century, proud of 
her past, happy in her present, and hopeful for the future. 



103 



CENTENNIAL OP 




TABLE SHOWING THE RISE IN POPULATION ALSO SUB-DIVISION OF CITY 
AND COUNTY REALTY AND CHATTEL. 





POPULATION. 


VALUATION CITY PROPERTY 


TAL. COUNTY PROPERTY. 


YEAR 


CITY. 


COUNTY 


REAL. 


CHATTELS. 


REAL. 


CHATTELS. 


1820 


•935 
1,030 
2,094 
5,108 
7,002 
12,652 
20,730 
31,895 
38,253 


9,353 
13,114 
16,882 
22,178 
25,300 
32,070 
41,948 
52,277 
58,939 






.$ ' ' (567,&32 
1,304,749 
4,665,791 
7.450,7(30 
7,8.59,838 
11,996,940 
11,35.5,170 
9,083,760 
9,658,690 




1830 




+41,300 

+73,599 
.$ 436,919 
1,110,878 
3,320,471 
4,178,190 
6,100,007 
6,240,515 
6,105,266 


^ 268,962 


1840 




411,105 


1850 
1860 
1870 
1880 
1890 
1900 
1901 


.•f 644, .5.55 
1,972,697 
2,958,635 
6,004,920 
10,430,.550 
11,653,580 
11,940,020 


1,222,218 
3,269,628 
5,323.550 
5,797.433 
5,317,500 
5,245,831 
5,338,546 



* In 1828 + Merchants' Capital. 



FROM CLARK COUNTY TAX DUPLICATE. 





VALUATION REAL ESTATE. 


VALUATION CHATTELS. 


Grand 
Total 


Year 


City 


County 


TOTAL 


City 


County 


TOTAL 


Wealth 

City and 

County 


1830 




•1! 667,832 
1,304,749 
4,665,791 
7,450,760 
7,8,59,838 
11,996,940 
11,355,170 
9,083,760 
9,658,690 


.1; 667,8.32 
1,304,749 
5,310,346 
9,423,457 
10,818,473 
18,001,860 
21,785,720 
20,747,340 
21,598,710 


.f ■'436 919 
1,110,878 
3,320,471 
4,178,190 
6,100,007 
6,240,515 
6,105,266 


.$ 268,9(52 
411,105 
1,222,218 
3,269,628 
5,323,550 
5,797,433 
5,317,500 
5,245,&31 
5,338,-546 


•i; 268,962 
411,105 
1,6.59,137 
4,380,-506 
8,644,021 
9,975,613 
11,417,-507 
11,486,346 
11,443,812 


.$ 936,794 


1840 




1,715,854 


18.50 
1860 
1870 
1880 
1890 
1900 
1901 


(544,555 
1,972,697 
2,9.58,6.35 
6,004,920 
10,430,.550 
11,6.53,580 
11,940,020 


6,969,483 
13,803,9(53 
19,462,494 
27,977,473 
33,203,227 
32 233,686 
33,042,522 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 103 




D. Z. GARDNER, ESQ. 



THE CITY GOVERNMENT AND ITS DEPARTMENTS. 



BY D. Z. GARDNER. ESQ. 

^Municipalities have become the ?tudy of the day. Histor- 
ically treated, their study carniot hut lie interestino^ ; their chief 
interest, however, at this day, lies in their political influence. Bv 
the term "municipalities'" here is meant cities. 

In the first ag-es of the world, the population was agrarian. 
Cities grew up and were formed by tribes or nations as the best 
means of defense against other tribes or nations. P)Ut po])ulation 
has always had the tendency to centralize. Although there is 
evidence of reaction periods in this centralization, the ruins of 
great cities prove that at times the city population became very 
great. It appears that during the last few decades population has 
been centralizing into cities at a more rapid rate than ever before, 
tmtil, I presume, at the present time, a larger per cent of people 
live in cities than ever before. And what is true in this respect of 
population, is true, to even a greater degree, of wealth. These 
facts give special interest to the study of cities, their government 
and departments. While it is interesting to stmly the ancient 
cities and their ruins, they camiot throw much light on the j^rob- 



104 CENTENNIAL OF 

lems of modern municipalities. Tl:e sliuly of our own city is cer- 
tainly of more interest and vastly more importance. The recent 
agitation on the subject of government and forms of government 
for cities might lead one to think that it was a matter of recent 
origin and importance. This, however, would be a mistake, but it 
is true, that on account of increasing population and new prob- 
lems constantly being presented, the study of city government has 
assumed new character and importance. It is generally agreed 
that old forms and methods will not answer any longer, and that 
new ones must be devised. The cities of the more remote past 
were mostly merely scattered communities rather than compact 
cities ; houses within a stone's throw of each other, rather than 
crowded together and twenty-six stories high. 

And here let me ask, have you ever stopped to consider how 
little attention you pay to your municipal government affairs, and 
yet how much more important they are to you than National or 
State affairs, to which you devote so much of your time and 
thought? The management of city aft'airs touches you in a hun- 
dred places where State and National aft'airs combined touch you 
once. The security of person and property depends almost wholly 
on your police and fire departments. You pay $7.00 taxes to be 
administered by your municipal officers to one dollar expended by 
State and National officers combined. While the security of your 
person and property and the expenditure of taxes paid by you are 
almost wholly in tie hands of your municipal officers, is it not true 
that you interest yourself, in about inverse proportion to their im- 
portance, in municipal affairs and officers? It is probably true 
that not too much interest is t^ken in National and State affairs, 
but it is surely true that too little interest is taken by those most 
interested in municipal affairs and ot^cers. 

One hundred years ago there was nothing but nature where 
now stands the city of Springfield. There is nothing peculiar 
about Springfield's origin and growth. To a house or two on 
what afterward became the famous National Road, were added a 
house or two, and then another or two, and finally enough to be 
something of a settlement. Springfield became incorporated as a 
village in 1834, ialthough an organization had been eft'ected in 
1827, with the usual six trustees and with Edward H. Gumming 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 105 

as President, and James S. Halsey as Recorder. She ran on 
under this form of government until 1850, when, by an act of the 
Legislature, Springfield became a city of the second class. The 
first Mayor was James M. Hunt, and the first City Clerk was S. 
Parsons. From 1850 to 1891, when the present form of govern- 
ment was adopted, the city cannot be said to have had any depart- 
ments ; in fact, it has none now legally so designated. 

I conceived it might be of interest to name in order the 
Presidents and Alayors of the city from 1834 down, and they are 
as follows : 

PRESIDENTS WHILE A VILLAGE. 

Edward H. Cumming 1834. 

W. V. A. Cushing 1835. 

Samson Hubble 1836. 

Reuben Miller 1837. '38, '39- '40- 

John Murdock 1841. 

William Moore 1842, '43- '44- 

Steven Bell i845- 

William Moore (again) 1846, '47, '48, '49- 

MAYORS OF CITV. 

Tames M. Hunt 1850, '51, '52, '53. 

Tames S. Goode 1854, '55- '56. 

A. G. Burnett 1857, '58, '59, '60. 

Tohn C. Miller 1861. 

W. D. Hill 1862. 

J. J. Snyder 1863. '64, '65. 

Tames Fleming 1866. 

t. T. Snvder (again) 1867. '68. 

Jacob R. McGarrv 18^)9, "70. 

j. J. Hanna ' 1871. "72. '73. '74. ^ 

Milton Cole 1875. '7'^^- ^77- '78. '79 

Edward S. Wallace t88o. 

E. G. Coffin i8Si."8?. 

Charles W. Constantine 1883, '84. 

Tames P. Goodwin 1885. '86. 

O. S. Kellv t887.'88. 

W. R. Burnett 1889, ^90. '91. 92. 

Tames Tohnson, Tr 1893. '94. 

■p P. Mast ". 189s. '9^. 

John M. Good 1897, '98. 



106 CENTENNIAL OF 

Charles J. Howliis 1899, '00. 

M. L. ^iillio-aii 1901. 

There were two or three instances in which the regularly- 
elected Mayor, for one reason or another, did not serve out his 
term, and temporary appointments were made, the last being that 
of T. J. Kirkpatrick in 1898. 

It appears from the foregoing list that most of the ^Mayors 
have been our most prominent business men. 

I will give the names of the legal advisers of the city in 
their order, designating the years in which they were elected, be- 
ginning in 1853 with George Spence : 

SOLICITORS. 

George Spence 1853 

A. G. Burnett 1855 

James I\T. Hunt '. . 1857 

]). M. Cochran 1859 

J. K. Mower 1867 

John C. Miller 1871 

A. T. Rvers 1876 

F. M. Hagan 1879 

M. T. Burnham 1881 

F. M. Hagan ( a.ijain ) 1883 

A. N. Summers 1885 

A. H. Kunkle 189 1 

D. Z. Gardner 1899 

V. Y. Smith 1901 

There is one instance of a Citv Solicitor resigning, that of 

D. M. Cochran in 1866. 

TREASURER. 

Tn 1862 the office of City Treasurer was abolished, and since 
then the County Treasurer has been treasurer of the city. 

The incumbents of the City Clerk's office since 1850 have 
been as follows : 

CITY CLERKS. 

S. Parsons 1850 

William Anderson 1855 

G. H. Frey 1856 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 107 

T. P. Clarke 1858 

W. F. Cummings 1861 

James W. Cummings 1862 

T. P. Clarke (again) 1867 

Charles R. ^liller 1869 

John S. Shewalter 1870 

Thomas D. Wallace 1890 

S. J. Wilkerson 1892 

Philip Huonker 1898 

R. N. Lantz 1900 

FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

The steam fire department was organized in 1865 with A. R. 
Ludlow as first Fire Marshal. The position was held by him 
until 1871, when R. O. King was elected and served till 1880. 
J. C. Holloway was elected in the latter year and was succeeded 
in 1882 by William E. ^loore, Jr., who served till December 2, 
1884. when E. \A\ Simpson was elected and served till September 
I, 1895, when the present Chief, George Follrath. was appointed. 
During all its life our Fire Department has been an honor to 
the city, and, while we have had some destructive fires, the sta- 
tistics of the United States show, I believe, only one or two cities 
of our size that have averaged a lower fire loss. There arc now 
seven regular fire department houses, operated by a force of 
tfiirty-five officers and men. The department is well equipped 
with the most modern machinery for fighting fire. 

The fire alarm system is under control of the department, 
and is kept in first-class order by ]\I. 'M. Dufl:"y and his assistants. 

POLICE DEP.\RTIVrENT. 

The present system of police management came in with the 
new form of government in 189 1. Tt consists at present of thirty- 
six officers and men. The efficiency of this department, especially 
since it came under the new form of management, cannot be 
questioned. Tt has attained an enviable reputation throughout the 
country. The control of the station and patrol houses is in this 
department. The Chiefs of the Department have been as follows : 

Tames Cushman 1891 

Tohn McKenna 1893 



108 CENTENNIAL OF 

W. H. Van Tassel. / .■ 1895 

Stewart Black 1897 

R. E. O'Brien 1899 

The Police and Fire Departments are naturally somewhat 
connected and interdependent, and hence are under control of one 
board, designated the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. 
Let me remark here, in passing, that I am not to be construed as 
speaking for or against the present form of government ; I may- 
refer to some parts of it in such manner later on, in this paper. 

COUNCIL AND BOARD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 

Under our present form of government,, Council is relieved 
of some of the duties it had under the former system of manage- 
ment, and some have hastily assumed that it has been entirely 
shorn of its power and influence ; but this is a grave mistake, and 
arises from having failed to study the situation. The powers and 
■duties really and truly belonging to such a body still remain to it ; 
in fact, all the important legislative functions of the city remain 
in Council. If we except a few minor matters, only executive 
functions have been taken from Council and lodged in the Board 
of Public Afifairs. In a city the size and importance of Spring- 
field, the executive duties become so great and complex, requiring 
at times quick and immediate action, that a number of men with 
something like original authority are required to give all their 
time and attention to them ; hence the necessity of some such 
arrangement as the Board of Public Affairs. This board, in addi- 
tion to its executive power, has legislative power over only small 
matters, and such as might be expected to require immediate 
action, and such as may arise from day to day and require more 
speedy action than could be obtained from Council. This par- 
takes somewhat of the nature of the management of private cor- 
porations and in them such arrangement of power has been found 
suitable and necessary. 

There is always danger of friction between these two bodies, 
naturally somewhat jealous of each other. By careful, skillful 
management, however, this has usually been avoided. A careful 
laying down of the duties and authority of each will always avoid 
dangerous clash. These duties and powers are very clearly de- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 105> 

fined in the law, and each body should accept what beloni^s to it 
and not try to usurp the rights and authority of the other. 

In the matter of conducting the executive affairs of a city. 
we may borrow some from the experience of the past. I do not 
know where the framers of the present city government obtained 
their ideas, or whether they were original, but an examination of 
the state of city affairs of the ancient Carthage shows that her 
government was very similar at one time to ours. The question 
is often asked why the cities of today are so inferior to those of 
the remote past. In the first place, we may ask whether there is 
any room for the question. I maintain that the cities of today, in 
serving the purposes for which they are intended, are not inferior 
to those of any past age. They may not possess the useless gran- 
deur of Babylon or the ancient This, On, or Thebes, but where 
among the ancient cities was there anything to compare with New 
York or Chicago? The twenty-six-story building may not seem 
so wonderful to us who are used to seeing them go up from 
five, ten and twenty stories. A modern twenty-six-story building,, 
with its engines, elevators, and various appliances, would much 
more arouse curiosity and wonder than the pyramids or hanging 
gardens. It is true that in useless grandeur some of the ancient 
cities surpassed us, but we must remember that nations and con- 
tinents were plundered to build and embellish them. It is also 
true that in those times the city was the state. Everything was 
drawn upon to improve the city of the king or tyrant. The 
execution of the design was in the hands of one man. We may 
here learn something of the value of having executive authority, 
at least, concentrated as much as possible. The works of science 
and art in those days indicate a degree of happiness and pleasure 
among the people surpassing that of today. 

PARK. 

About the only agency we have looking after the pleasure of 
our citizens is our Park Board. This board, at present composed 
of Messrs. John Foos, Frank jNIcGregor, Robert ]\Iills, D. F. 
Snyder and W. H. Blee, is rapidly transforming the "Snyder 
Park" into a paradise. I do not presume, however, that they will 



110 CENTENNIAL OF 

ever be able, with the funds at hand, to furnish us the aqueducts, 
baths, theatres, etc., etc., of Rome. 

In one department, however, and that of the highest im- 
portance, we are far ahead of our forefathers even of the not 
very remote past. Our hospitals and facilities for taking care 
of the sick and maimed are marvels of the healing art heretofore 
unknown and never dreamed of by the ancient followers of the art. 
Our hospital management is certainly second to none in the coun- 
try. It is in charge of a Board of Hospital Trustees, at present 
composed of Dr. A. C. McCabe and Messrs. J. E. Bowman, P. E. 
Montanus, O. S. Kelly, and, recently appointed, E. C. Gwynn. 

Of the efficiency of the last two named boards there has 
never been any question. And may it not in part be due to the 
fact that the members are appointed for long terms of office? 
Let me here remark that I am aware of the prejudice against long 
terms of office. The idea is, give everybody a show. Pass the 
offices around. This is a grave mistake in municipal manage- 
ment. No great private concern changes its officers every year 
or two. It is often said that we do not want an office holding 
class. Well, we will never have efficient, economical manage- 
ment until our executive officers are put upon long terms. Find 
a man suitable for the particular position and keep him there, 
should be the rule of public office as well as private office. This 
practically means civil service. 

LIBRARY. 

Our library facilities compare favorably with those of any 
city of our population. The management of its affairs is intrusted 
to a Library Board of Trustees, at present composed of Governor 
A. S. Bushnell, W. S. Thomas, E. L. Buchwalter, Oscar T. Mar- 
tin, W. B. Rodgers and John L. Zimmerman, trustees, and C. A. 
Schuster, President of City Council, ex-officio member. 

This board has adopted the very salutary rule of living 
within its income. It is usually in the fight each year for an 
increase of its levy, but lives within the amount allowed it. 

HEALTH. 

The Board of Public Affairs is charged with the statutory 
duties of Boards of Health. I would like to submit that, in my 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. Ill 

judgment, this is a mistake. My personal experience with this 
board convinces me that the Board of Health ought to be sepa- 
rate. It may be conceded, however, that the matter of health has 
been fairly well looked after, and the United States Government 
reports show Springfield to be in the very front in healthfulness, 
and low death rate. 

WATERWORKS. 

The matter of water supply is in the hands of the Board of 
Waterworks Trustees, and they have recently had their hands 
full, working out a plan to increase the water supply so badly 
needed. It has been my idea that we have been allowing the 
candle to be consumed at both ends in the matter of water supply. 
We have allowed the water supply to decrease and also allow 
millions of gallons of water to waste. I feel satisfied that by 
using the means already in possession of the city to increase grad- 
ually the supply, and by cutting ofif the waste by more rip-id in- 
spection and watchfulness, and by the introduction of meters, the 
supply will be abundant for years to come. 

EQUALIZATION. 

We have a Fioard of Equalization, whose duty it is to look 
after delinquent returns of personal property and value new 
structures, etc. 

I believe I have covered about all the departments of strictly 
city management, and by this time you have learned, if you did 
not know it before, that we are governed by boards. 

There is one board to mention yet. against which all the 
other boards are once a year waging warfare. That is the Board 
of Tax Commissioners. This board supervises the levy of taxes 
for each department of the city, and as the pie is not very large, 
it requires some ingenuity to make it go around and please each 
department management. 

A line or two about the tax duplicates and tax rates might be 
interesting. The first authentic record that I could find was for 
the year 1^53 for the amount of tax duplicate. It was then 
$2,234,441. In 1858 it had increased to $2,778,370. In i860 it 
was $3,083,575. It has been increasing each year until it has 



112 CENTENNIAL OF 

reached about $17,800,000. The tax rate has varied; beginning- 
in 1834 with I 1-2 miHs. In 1850 it was 4 1-2 mills. At the pres- 
ent time the maximum is fixed by law at 10 mills. It has been 
slightly decreased each year for the last three years, and has been 
fixed this year at 9.85 miUs. Much has been said about our low 
tax rate, and I believe we have enjoyed about the lowest rate of 
almost any city of our population that has kept pace with city 
improvements. 

I have not mentioned the Board of Education, which is 
scarcely a department of the city government, but rather a branch 
of State administration, and I presume some one else has been 
assigned to treat of the educational department. I may, however, 
for the sake of completeness, refer to it briefly. It is composed 
of twelve members, elected in the same manner as Councilmen, 
and has complete charge of the educational facilities of the city 
and territory annexed for school purposes. It has the expenditure 
of a larger amount of money than any other department, and 
nearly as much as all other departments combined. Much dissat- 
isfaction has always been expressed by taxpayers with the work 
of this board ; and while there may be room for criticism, yet the 
educational advantages of Springfield are admittedly first class. 

I have purposely left the Board of Elections for last consid- 
eration, not on account of its unimportance, for its jurisdiction is 
the beginning of government in a republic. This board has, 
probably, more difficult problems to confront it all the time than 
any other board in the city. Election law and rules are without 
end, and no one can find the beginning, and the length and 
breadth thereof cannot be estimated, much less measured. In 
this matter of elections a vast amount of law and machinery is re- 
quired to decide which candidate has received the most votes, 
while none of it is devoted to the question whether the candidate 
is in the least fit to hold the office. Here is one of the weakest 
points in our republic, and may we not say the source of almost 
all others? There is no method possible of adoption that can 
remedy the defect of incompetent or dishonest officials. It has 
been supposed that the voting public would look after this, but it 
has been demonstrated that there is nothing in the proposition. 
The candidate, however incompetent, of the party in the major- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



113 



ity, or with the most money, is ahiiost certain of election, although 
the fitness of the opposing candidate may be acknowledged by all. 
In fact, personal prejudices or spite enter far more largely into 
the matter than fitness. So long as this remains true, all discus- 
sion of different forms of government is absolutely vain. Put 
honest, competent men into office, and no form of government is 
needed. Without such men no form will give good government, 
Springfield, during all of her political life, has been singularly 
and unusually free from official scandal or corruption. Not that 
charges have not arisen from morally irresponsible sources, btit 
nothing in the shape of convincing proof has been produced. 

Let us hope that at her next centennial Springfield may be 
able to show herself as well among her neighbors as she has in 
her past history. 









Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Shops in 1850. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 115 




HON. M'. S. THOMAS. 



OUR MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES -^ THEIR HIS- 
TORY AND PRESENT CONDITIONS. 



BY HON. W. S. THOMAS. 



Manufacturing began with the town, and ever since has 
seemed as natural to it as the water flowing down hill past it, 
along which our first industries were located. 

The very first business in Springfield was the manufacture of 
"fire water" by no less a person than Jafnes Demint, the founder 
of the town, in 1799. He did better afterward, and in 1803 built 
a grist mill. 

At the first census in 1820 the town had flour, lumber, 
woolen, cotton, and powder mills ; and in 1827, a large paper mill. 
In 1830, the Bretney tannery was started, and is still in operation 
by the same family. 

In 1840, James Leffel built the first foundry. In 1841, the 
Barnett Flour Mills were opened, and marked an era in the his- 
tory of the town, as it was the largest enterprise of the place, up 
to that time ; and was operated by water brought in a race from a 
mile and a half up Buck Creek. This attracted to the same vicin- 
ity, in a few years, several other factories. 

These varied interests gave the town a decidedly manufac- 
turing character, which it has always retained. 



116 CENTENNIAL OF 

FIRST AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

The agricultural implement business, which first made 
Springfield famous throughout the land, was begun by William 
Whitele3% who in 1840 began building plows. It was here, I be- 
lieve, that our greatest inventor, William N. Whitele}', learned his 
trade as a machinist, and whose indomitable will, ceaseless activ- 
ity, and prolific invention, which are a true type of the aggressive 
spirit and tireless energy that have prevailed here for fifty years, 
created our great and varied industries, increased our population 
to 40,000, and made Springfield one of the finest cities of its size 
in the United States. 

In 1842, threshing machines were made by John A. Pitts, 
and this w-as the beginning of the great industry now known as 
the O. S. Kelly Company. 

ErOCH IN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT MANUFACTURING. 

The years 1850 to 1856 mark a great epoch in the agricul- 
tural implement interest here, for during those years Warder & 
Brokaw (1850) began making reaping machines; Whiteley, 
Fassler & Kelly began making reapers and mowers, and Thomas 
& Mast (1856) began building grain drills, and these interests 
with their successors and outgrowths, form the extensive indus- 
tries known today as The Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Com- 
pany, P. P. Mast & Co., Mast, Foos & Co., The Superior Drill 
Company, and The Thomas Manufacturing Company. These 
factories, with the other implement shops of the Whiteley, Kelly, 
Ross, Evans, Foos and Funk Companies, comprise our agricul- 
tural implement group of eleven factories, which today employ 
4,000 men and 125 women, using a capital of about $6,000,000, 
and with an annual product of about $8,000,000, and which, I 
believe, may be truly called the backbone of Springfield ; and 
from which there have been many branches. 

All these industries, except one, were "born and raised" in 
Springfield ; and hence, our greatest development has been from 
within — a gradual growth along safe lines — what might be called 
legitimate expansion, in which we can all afl^ord to believe. 

With this agricultural implement interest as a basis, assur- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 117 

ing a permanent manufacturing- character to the town, there have 
developed here many other 'very important industries. 

These other factories have multipHed and grown so fast that 
today they comprise over one-half of our manufacturing interests 
in number of employes and annual product — but not in amount 
of capital used, for the experience here is, that, on the average, it 
takes $1,500, in money invested, to each employe in the implement 
business, while in our other kinds of factories $1,000 invested is 
sufficient to each employe. And in each $1,000 capital in the im- 
plement line there is $1,300 annual product — while in our other 
factories there is $1,800 of product in each $1,000 capital. So 
that it is a good thing, in every way, to encourage a variety of 
factories in our city, while at the same time we must maintain 
our reputation and ascendency in the implement line. 

Our other manufacturing industries I have placed in eight 
groups, the figures for which are as follows : 

FACTORIES MAKING MACHINERY, MATERIAL AND SUPPLIES FOR 
OTHER FACTORIES. 

This is a most important group for the implement and other 
factories here, and stands next to the implement interest in em- 
ployes, capital and product. 

The thirteen factories in this group produce gray iron, mal- 
leable iron, and brass castings, machine and shop tools, emery 
wheels, steel wheels, and nails. 

These factories began business from 1872 to 1893, are all 
flourishing, well established, and give promise of still further en- 
largement. They are largely the kind that run the year 'round, 
and we need some more of the same kind — notably rolling mills, 
for making steel and iron bars, tees, angles, and special shapes in 
steel. This group contains thirteen factories, employing 1.400 
men and 35 women, uses $1,000,000 capital, and its annual output 
is $1,750,000. 

GAS AND STEAM ENGINE GROUP. 

Steam engines — portable, threshing and stationary — have 
been built here for many years, and engines of some kind are now 



118 CENTENNIAL OF 

made by seven different factories; and one of these (James Leffe! 
& Co.) began business in 1862, on water wheels, and afterward 
added steam engines. The five making gas and gasoHne engines 
have all started and developed during the past ten years, but 
their enterprise is so great, and their expansion so rapid, that 
they are making it known everywhere that Springfield is the place 
to buy gas engines, of any size, for any purpose, and to be run 
by any kind of gas. 

This group comprises seven factories, employing 500 men,, 
using $650,000 capital, with an annual product of $1,000,000. 

FACTORIES MAKING IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTS. 

The twenty-one factories in this group make furnaces, stoves, 
architectural iron work, bridges, iron fences, fire escapes, boiler 
cleaners, railroad frogs, switches, etc. ; clothes wringers, trucks,. 
undertakers' hardware, electrical specialties, sheet metal work, 
plumbers' supplies, boilers, roller-bearing axles, wire bale ties, 
saddlery, hardware, etc. Some of these industries began in the 
seventies, a few in the eighties, but about half of them started in 
the last ten years. Most of them have done so well that it is 
expected others will soon organize, as the field is large, and no 
better place than Springfield in which to make these lines. 

There are now twenty-one factories in this group, employ- 
ing 900 men, using $500,000 capital, and their annual product is- 
$1,175,000. 

MANUFACTURING PUBLISHERS. 

All business being so dependent upon some kind of advertis- 
ing, it is quite natural to find here a group of enterprising pub- 
lishers, printers, lithographers, engravers, binders, etc., who are 
issuing four daily, five weekly, two farm papers (one of these — 
The Farm and Fireside — has probably the largest circulation of 
any farm paper in this country), besides printed books and cir- 
culars by the million, to be sent all over the world, and every piece 
of it makes Springfield known to some one. Indeed, for a city of 
its size, I believe Springfield is more universally known than any 
other American town. 

This group contains fourteen houses, employing 400 men 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 119 

and 300 women, using $600,000 capital, and with $1,050,000 an- 
nual product. 

MANUFACTURING FLORISTS. 

Alono- with the material prosperity of Springfield, from 
1870 to 1890, we were fortunate in developing an extensive florist 
and greenhouse business. 

There are now nine of these houses here, with a growing 
trade throughout the country — one of them alone is selling two 
and one-half millions of rose plants each year. 

Some local effects of this interesting business were seen this 
spring, in the numerous and beautiful rose bushes, of the Rambler 
variety, to be seen all over Springfield, and the many farmers' 
houses throughout the county, where flowers are now common. 

These nine firms in this trade employ 250 men and 50 wo- 
men, use a capital of $175,000, and their annual sales amount to 
$375,000. 

MEDICINE, CHEMICAL AND COFFIN COMPANIES 

This group comprises four medicine companies, three em- 
balming fluid companies, and two coffin factories, making nine 
industries in all, employing 275 men and 50 women, using a cap- 
ital of $500,000, and their annual product is $800,000. 

That these concerns are enterprising and up to date, will be 
conceded, when it is known that one of them is spending $100,000 
a year in advertising, and another builds the very best caskets in 
the world. 

GENERAL FACTORIES. 

We also have seven large factories, each one a specialty of 
its own — (1) Gas plant: (2) electric light plant; (3) rubber fac- 
tory; (4 and 5") two rul)l)cr tire plants; (6 and 7) two breweries. 
The product of each is well indicated by its name. They employ 
250 men. use a capital of Si, 000.000, and their annual product 
and receipts arc about $1,000,000. 

M LSCELLANEOUS FACTORIES. 

In order ni»t to make this ]~)apcr too long, T must not go into 
further classifications. l)ut jnU ;11 tl-.c rest of our manufacturing 



130 CENTENNIAL OF 

industries under this head. There are fifty-one of them, and they 
make a lot of things. 

For those who are huilding. we make Hme, l:)rick, stone work, 
interior wood work, art glass, roofing, and structural iron. 

For those furnishing a house, we make furniture, tables, 
mattresses, pillows, cushions, fancy seats, gas burners, gas stoves 
and heaters, awnings. 

For outdoor use, we make tents, flags, fertilizers, incubators, 
lawn and street sweepers, wood and iron pumps, lawn mowers, 
cement walks. 

For the family table, we make flour, corn meal, breakfast 
food, sausages, baking powder. Saratoga chips, salted nuts, bread, 
cakes, ices, and cigars for the gentlemen. 

For the household use, wc make soap, sealing wax, and elec- 
tric fans. 

In wearing apparel, we make shoes, rul)ber heels, suspenders, 
garters, arm bands. 

For those who wish to ride, we make carriages, buggies, 
wagons, phaetons, bicycles, bicycle saddles, and automobiles. 

For office and store use. we make counters and shelving, 
office furniture, paper boxes, mailing tubes, and all kinds of sta- 
tionery. 

Then we also make optical instruments, spectacle cases, wood 
and metal patterns, hardware specialties, cigar boxes, saddlery 
leathers (an industry started in 1830), tari)aulins, iron files, elec- 
tro-plating, and monuments. 

This shows a great variety of articles, useful and healthy, 
beautiful and ornamental, and all contributing to the convenience 
and happiness of thousands of people. 

These factories employ 900 men and 240 women, use a cap- 
ital of $725,000, and their present annual product amounts to 
$1,850,000, and growing larger. 

Some evidence of the variety of our products was seen at our 
local exposition held in 1899. where over 200 different machines 
were on exhibition, and all made in Springfield. 

TOTAF. MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 

Agricultural implement factories 11. with 4.000 employes; 
capital, $6,000,000 : product $8,000,000. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 121 

All other factories 131. with 5,600 employes; capital $5,150,- 
000; product, $9,000,000. 

Grand total, 142 factories, with 9,600 employes; capital $11,- 
150,000; amiual product, $17,000,000. 

This gives a tolerably correct idea of the present condition of 
■our manufacturing industries. 

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN. 

If you will recall the figures already given, you will note that 
in the factories which produce agricultural implements, engines, 
iron and steel articles, heavy machinery and factory supplies. 
there are very few women employed except as clerks and stenog- 
raphers in the offices. 

But in the publishing houses, and in the factories, making- 
paper boxes, food products and wearing apparel, women are 
doing a large share of the work ; and the high quality of the 
goods they are making, shows that our Springfield girls and 
women are perfectly competent to compete in these lines with 
their sisters in other cities — so that we are well able to compete 
with any other town, in the lines of goods where it has come to 
seem natural for women to be employed — but. for one, I do not 
want to encourage too much the employment of our girls, outside 
of homes, where they can do such excellent, natural, and beautiful 
service, either as wives or mothers, or assistants to their mothers 
and other housekeepers. 

CAUSES OF SUCCESS. 

Now, what were the chief causes of this successful outcome 
of very small beginnings? 

First — A group of honest, courageous, energetic, intelligent, 
competent, persevering men ; such men as would have made a 
success anywhere — but, of course, we think their success has been 
all the greater, because they settled in Springfield. 

Who were these men? 

This is a good place to record together the names of the 
founders and earliest developers of our manufacturing industries, 



123 CENTENNIAL OF 

all but five of whom Ijeoan niannfacturing business here prior 
to 1870. 

FOUNDERS AND EARLIEST DEVELOPERS. 

Name. Began. 

David West 1837 

William Whitele> 1840 

James L.efl'el 1840 

James Driscol 1847 

B. H. Warder T850 

William N. Whitelev 1855 

Ross Mitchell 1856 

Jerome Fasslcr 1856 

John H. T'nomas 1856 

P. P. Mast 1856 

O. S. Kellv 1857 

William \Varder 1859 

A. R. Ludlow i860 

C. A. Gardner i860 

John Foos 1861 

W. G. Downev 1862 

A. W. Butt ..'. 1862 

John W. Bookwalter 1865 

C. P. Ballard 1866 . 

William Foos 1866 

Amos Whiteley 1867 

A. S. Bushnell 1867 

Robert Johnson 1867 

R. H. Rodgers 1867 

T. W. Rinehart 1867 

W. W. Wilson 1868 

Joseph W. Thomas 1868 

Gharles E. Thomas 1868 

A. Wins^er 1870 

C. A. Bauer 1875 

W. S. Thomas 1875 

A. C. Evans 1876 

G. S. Foos 1876 

Second — Co-operation. I am told that in the early days, 
these men were in frequent consultation with each other — .2:iving' 
advice here, a friendly suggestion there — correcting a mistake 
here and straightening out a tangle there, and sometimes helping 
each other at the bank. This co-operation went beyond this city — 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 133 

every traveling salesman sent out by one factory, was told to put 
in a good, strong word of recommendation for the goods made 
by our other factories — every dealer who came to town was taken 
around to the other shops. 

This active, constant, and mutual helpfulness did immense 
good, both at home and abroad. Let us continue it. 

Third — Making machines necessary and economical for 
farmers to use — making them at the right time to supply the 
growing demand for improved implements — and making the 
very best machines on the market, and protecting them by pat- 
ents — machines that talked for themselves, in the fields of the 
world, and soon made the name of Springfield universally and 
favorably known, and the fame of its factories world-wide — as 
the political speaker says, we "point with pride" to the unequalcd 
excellence of the large line of farm machinery and other articles 
made here, and we are successfully meeting the world in competi- 
tion. This can be continued only by staying at the top in quality 
— indeed, so strong is the feeling here in favor of building only 
good things, that I verily believe any one who attempted to make 
a poor article, and put "Springfield" on it, would find his credit 
at his banker's greatly impaired. 

It certainly augurs well for the future that the present gen- 
eration is so magnificently maintaining the splendid traditions of 
the past, in its belief that the best is none too good for farmers 
and others to use, or for Springfield to make. 

Fourth — An energetic pushing of the business, in all direc- 
tions, combined with conservatism in financial matters — not going 
too fast, nor attempting more than could well be handled. 

EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYE. 

Fifth — While the papers are full of news about conflicts be- 
tween labor and capital in many of our cities and manufacturing 
centres, in Springfield you seldom hear those two words spoken 
at all. As commonly used, these words represent two distinct, 
opposing and conflicting interests — but here, we do not recognize 
any such antagonism — both the employers and the employes are 
on the most pleasant terms with each other, and it is, here, more 
like one big family than anything else. 



124 CENTENNIAL OF 

Our largest employers, and richest men, have grown up 
from very modest beginnings, and their employes have grown up 
with them, until today, a large number of our present manufac- 
turers began as workmen themselves ; and by economy, industry, 
and push, have now factories of their own, and, year by year, 
such men are doing a large share in starting other industries, and 
adding to the variety and the quality of goods made in Spring- 
field. 

In looking back over the last fifty years, which embrace the 
greatest part of our manufacturing activity, I do not know of 
more than two cases of any special trouble between the men who 
work in the shops and the managers who work (and worry) in 
the offices. 

This freedom from labor troubles in the past has greatly as- 
sisted in the building up of our manufacturing plants, while the 
existence of such troubles in other places have simply ruined 
many towns. 

It therefore behooves both employers and employes to see to 
it that the future is kept as free from such difficulties as the past 
has been ; so that all of us may devote our time and our energies 
to the further enlargement of the trade of our factories, with a 
feeling of confidence that our conduct toward each other shall 
always be sensible, reasonable, and just, remembering there are 
two sides to most questions, but only one real side to this — our 
interests being strictly mutual. 

BANKS. 

Si.vtli — There are very few factories which do not need, at 
certain seasons, extra money; over and above their capital and 
surplus. Right here the banks come in, and are expected to sup- 
ply this money, for the short or long periods required. 

That sounds like an easy thing to do, as banks are supposed 
always to have money. In times of plenty of money, the banks 
readily respond to requests for loans, but in hard times, when 
money is scarce, and hard to get, and collections almost impossi- 
ble to make, then it is that manufacturers need and appreciate 
moneyed institutions like the Springfield Banks ; and I do not 
believe any town has banks as liberally conducted, or more free 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 125 

from hard-hearted and arbitrary methods, or more anxious to ac- 
commodate customers, and at the same time their affairs are run 
on safe and conservative lines, as we must always remember that 
in loaning money, at low' rates of interest, it is highly necessary 
to have the principal well secured. 

Many other causes contributed to our present position in the 
manufacturing world, but I believe these six are the main ones : 

First — Honest and competent men. 
Second — Co-operation. 
Third- — Making the best goods. 
Fourth — Push, and plenty of it. 
Fifth — Freedom from labor troubles. 
Sixth — Liberal banks. 

SUCCESS AND FAILURE. 

Looking back over the hundred years now closing, we can 
not say that a Paradise of business conditions has ever existed 
here, and that no failures have ever occurred. 

Still, when you take out of the list those who retired from 
business on account of old age, death, removals, and changes of 
conditions, you can almost count on the fingers the factories that 
have actually failed here. The percentage of success is about 98 
per cent., and of failures. 2 per cent. This is a most remarkable 
record, almost approaching an ideal condition, and ought to be a 
potent argument with those seeking new locations, or desiring to 
engage in the manufacturing busmess. Surely, no luckier place 
can be found than Springfield, in which to make things, and there 
is no place where persons will receive more real encouragement 
and cordial co-operation, in any kind of legitimate manufacturing 
business. 

FUTURE PROSPECTS. 

Now, what as to the future of our manufacturing industries ? 
Those of us now in the business have many more advantages than 
our founders had — such as abundant shipping, banking, and mail- 
ing facilities — and supplies of raw material, and the benefit of the 
experience of our predecessors. We have in our employ the 



126 CENTENNIAL OF 

second and third generations of men in families that have grown 
up, and been drilled in this line of trade. Our lines of goods are 
well introduced, and have an established reputation in the mar- 
kets everywhere — but this kind of business as well as others, is 
concentrating, and the more dififerent kinds of implements and 
other articles that are made here, the better chance we will all 
have of holding and increasing our implement and other trade. 
Plows and wagons ought to be made here by all means — when 
nothing- else sells, farmers buy plows and wagons — and 
these two staple articles built here on a large scale would be of 
immense benefit to this city. But aside from all these things, our 
future growth, after all, is going to depend on just about the 
same fundamental elements that first built up the town. 

EXTENDED TRADE. 

The trade of this town is so extended now, that, wherever 
you go, you will find Springfield represented, either by its pro- 
ducts or by its men. Whatever happens all over this earth has 
an influence here — if rains are short in Australia, not so many of 
our harvesting machines will be wanted ; if times are bad in Rus- 
sia, they cannot buy so much of our machine tools ; if the German 
grass crop is good, they want our mowers and rakes ; if the price 
of grain goes down, our drills are not wanted so much — but when 
wheat goes to $i per bushel, we all rejoice and Springfield 
flourishes. 

ACTIVITIES INVOLVED. 

Now there is undoubtedly a fascination in the manufacturing 
business. It involves so many dififerent kinds of activities. 

The invention, improvement and completion of the machine 
— buying material and labor, and selling the product — banking, 
borrowing and collecting — litigation in prosecution and defense — 
taxes, patents, insurance, water, fuel, light, heat and sanitary ar- 
rangements — communications by mail, wire, 'phone and verbal, 
receiving and entertaining all classes of callers, from the crank to 
the capitalist — and all this going on all the time, without any ces- 
sation, and is so like women's work, never done, that I sometimes 
wonder more manufacturers do not break down under it ; for we 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 127 

in the trade know what kind of experience a man goes through, 
and what an all-'round kind of a man he must be, who becomes a 
successful manufacturer. 

BENEFITS OF IMPROVED TOOLS. 

Now, beyond the making and selHng of the goods, and per- 
haps making some money out of it, I beHeve our manufacturers 
have had in mind and take much pleasure in, the great benefit to 
the world there is in the use of these improved tools. We hear a 
good deal of the man behind the gim ; and manhood, at its best, 
is the finest product of the earth — but if this magnificent man 
behind the gun is to do the best execution, he must have the finest 
gun. Is. not that the case with the farmer — the man behind our 
machines ? If our modern farmer, scientific, practical, and up-to- 
date, as he is, is to do his best work, he must have the best ma- 
chinery with which to do it — and right there is where Springfield 
steps in, and supplies our best farmers with the very best farm 
machinery made in this world — enabling him to do his harrowing' 
planting, cultivating and harvesting quickly, economically, and 
thoroughly, and all he has to do, is to sit on his machine and drive 
his team — press the button on the lines to the horse's bit, and 
Springfield's farm machinery does the rest. 

INCREASING HAPPINESS. 

I believe our manufacturers here realize and idealize what 
they are doing — and we do rejoice that we are "increasing the 
sum of human happiness" when we lighten the hard labor of 
farming, and shorten the farmer's working hours — giving him 
and his family some leisure time for recreation and elevation. 

I recently heard a minister say to an assembly of manufac- 
turers : — 

"The Gospel Ministry is a sacred calling — but so is yours." 
"We supply the motives of the larger life — but you furnish 
the instruments of its attainment." 

"We give the impulse to climb ; but you furnish the ladder." 
"You are among the high priests of the modern world." 
"To me, every workshop is a temple ; the whirr of the ma- 
chinery is the music of the organ ; the workmen are the worship- 
ers; the manufacturer is the priest." 



138 



CENTENNIAL OF 



AGRICL'LTURAL fMPLEMENTS. 

Name. Begun. 

Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Co. . . . 1850 

A. C. Evans Manufacturing Co 1873 

D. D. Funk ^ 1899 

P. P. Mast &Co 1856 

O. S. Kelly Company 1842 

Foos Manufacturing Company 1883 

Superior Drill Company 1867 

Mast, Foos & Co ' 1875 

Thomas Manufacturing Company. . . 1873 

Whiteley Machine Company 1895 

E. W. Ross Company i860 

Totals 



iMen. 


IV 0111 en. 


2,050 


105 


1-5 




5 




350 


4 


450 


2 


200 


2 


310 


5 


125 


2 


235 


3 


25 




125 


2 



4,000 



125 



MAKING MACHINES, MATERIAL AND SUPPLIES FOR OTHER 



FACTORIES. 

Name. Begun. Men. Women. 

Nolte Brass Company 1888 30 

Springfield Brass Company 1872 14 

Corrugated Steel Nail Company.... 1890 3 ... 

Springfield Foundry Company 1892 210 7 

Owen Machine Tool Company 1893 40 ... 

Springfield Machine Tool Company. 1887 130 

Springfield Malleable Iron Co 1878 335 

Safety Emery Wheel Company 1893 50 i 

Bettendorf Metal Wheel Company. . 1890 210 5 

Western Manufacturing Company. . 1898 16 i 

Webster & Perks Company 1891 32 

Robbins & Myers Company 1878 290 20 

Hoppes Manufacturing Company. . . 1886 40 i 

Totals 



Name. 
Miller Improved Gas Engine Co. 
American Engineering Company 

James Lefifel & Co 

Foos Gas Engine Company 

Springfield Gas Engine Company 
Superior Gas Engine Company. . 
Trump Manufacturing Company 

Totals 





1,400 


35 


sfE FACTORIES. 




Bes^un. 


Men. 


Women. 


1897 


49 


I 


I90I 


30 


I 


1862 


165 


4 


1887 


100 


3 


I89I 


45 




1889 


26 




1890 


85 





500 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 129 

:^[AKiNG IRON A.M) sti:i:l products. 

A'aiiic. Bci^ini. Men. Wouicn. 

Victor Suppl}- Company 1899 7 2 

F. X. Sterling Xovelty Company... 1890 lO i 

Peet & Schuster Company 1870 15 

Electrical Construction Supply Co. . 1900 2 

R. W. Dixon & Co 1899 12 

Progress Furnace and Stove Co.... 1899 40 

Ohio Wringer Compan\- , . 1873 ^^ 

Indianapolis Frog and Switch Co. . . 1892 50 
Lagonda Manufacturing Company. . 1896 8 

Rogers Iron Company 1883 7^ 

tiennessey Foundry Comi)any 1900 25 

American Radiator Company 82 

Grant Axle and ^^'heel Company... 1899 25 

Architectural Iron Company 1881 100 

Shawver Company 1896 5 

W. C. Downey Company 1888 15 

L. Patric Furnace Company 1876 40 

Wickham & Chapman Compan}'. . . . 1889 3^0 

W. F. Bauroth & Brother ". 1873 25 

Thomas Roberts 1871 20 

The Gray Iron Casting Company. . . 1900 25 



Totals 900 6 

MANUFACTURING PlBLISllKRS, KXGRAVERS AND BINDERS. 

Name. , Begun. Men. Women. 

The Winters Company 1868 42 25 

American Farmer Company 1892 10 25 

Springfield Publishing Com])any.... 1899 50 20 

The Democrat Company 1888 18 5 

Springfield' Bindery 1891 8 2 

E. L. Barrett & Sons 1861 I 30 

Barrett Brothers 1898 3 3 

Barrett Publishing Compan\- 1886 12 6 

Crowell & Kirkpatrick Companx... 1877 165 130 

Floral I'ublishing Company 1898 6 20 

Sun Publishing Company 1894 25 .... 

Springfield Engraving Com])any. . . . 1899 ^ • • • 

New Era Company 1886 32 30' 

T. E. Harwood & Co 1880 22 4. 



Totals 



400 300 



130 



CENTENNIAL OF 



MANUFACTURING FLORISTS. 

Name. Begun. 

McGregor Brothers Company 1867 

George H. Mellen Company '^'^77 

Good & Reese Company 1887 

A. R. Aldrich '. 1891 

C. L. ReeSe 

T. A. McBeth 1885 

J. L. Maxwell 1900 

John A. Doyle & Co. . 1891 

Schmidt & Botley 1893 

Totals 



Men. 


Women. 


45 


7 


25 


S 


129 


33 


5 


I 


5 




2 




4 




15 


2 


20 


2 



'■50 



50 



MEDICINE, CHEMICAL AND COFFIN COMPANIES. 



Name. Begun. 

Springfield Metallic Casket Co 1884 

Springfield Coffin and Casket Co. . . . 1866 

Espy Fluid Company 1894 

Champion Chemical Company 1878 

Hill Chemical Company 

Herb Medicine Company 1888 

George S. Beck 1890 

Scientific Remedy Company 1885 

Wahoo Remedy Company 

Totals 



Men. 


J V omen. 


180 

32 
6 


30 
6 

I 


24 


5 


3 




20 


5 


7 


5 


I 




2 





275 



52 



GENERAL FACTORIES. 



Name. Begun. 

Springfield Breweries Company.... 1840 

Gas Company 1849 

Electric Light Company 1885 

Victor Rubber Company 1898 

Victor Rubber Tire Company 1896 

Kelly Rubber Tire Company 1894 

Totals 



Men. Women. 

75 
40 

35 
80 
10 

TO 



250 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 131 

MISCELLANEOUS FACTORIES. 



Name. Begun. 

The National Biscuit Company 1889 

Champion Saratoga Chip Company. 1890 

Brice & Co 1900 

J. Redman & Son 1866 

H. M. Ballentine 1886 

Lagonda Box Company 1899 

Springfield Elastic Thread Co 1900 

Green Manufacturing Company. . . . iqqi 

Springfield Planing Mill Company.. 1884 

S. M. Houck "... 1892 

Mills Brothers 1887 

Springfield Alattress Company 1897 

J. W. Parmenter 1895 

H. V. Bretney & Co '. 1830 

Finch Shoe Company 1895 

Scowden & Blanchard Company. . . . 1896 

H. Fehl 1895 

Springfield Fertilizer Company 1882 

Buckeye Incubator Company 1890 

Fay & Forbes 1876 

W. T. Parker Manufacturing Co. . . 1884 

The Mentals 1890 

Springfield Coal and Ice Company. . 1889 

Wheatheart Manufacturing Co 1901 

Garnier Brothers 1895 

William Wilkinson & Son 1868 

Kyle Art Glass Company 1900 

Snyder Brothers 182=^ 

Ansted & Burk Company 1897 

W. G. Fay 1895 

Springfield Tent and Awning Co. . . 1898 

Mark A. Smith 1861 

Moores Lime Company 1890 

Springfield Car and Wagon Works. . 1880 

Clark Paper Box Company 1894 

Shawd ]\Ta chine Company 1897 

A. Grube & Son '. 1885 

Reama Silver Plate Company 1898 

A. Kahrmann & Son 1880 

Grube Brothers 

Thomas Stationery M'f'g Co 1901 

Harris Manufacturing Company. . . 1899 



Men. 


Women. 


18 


3 


2 


12 


2 


2 


3 


. . . 


6 




4 


15 


6 


2 


15 


3 


26 




15 




85 


. . . 


6 


2 


6 


13 


25 




30 


20 


150 


50 


15 


. . . 


25 




50 


4 


3 




4 




5 




24 


. . • 


6 


7 


ID 


2 


4 




3 




15 




50 


2 


4 




2 


3 


4 




70 


. . . 


8 




2 


6 


5 




18 




17 


. . . 


2 


. . . 


15 




25 


64 


25 


6 



7 


12 


20 


I 


6 




30 


7 


15 




2 




I 


I 


I 


3 


8 





132 CENTENNIAL OF 

Name. Begun. Men. Women. 

W. Z. Long 1881 

Kuqua & Sons 1884 

Kirkpatrick Saddle Company 1899 

Spring-field Leather Furniture Co. . . 1899 

M. C. Russell Cement Company. . . . 1876 

Eureka Manufacturing Company... 1900 

Peter King " '...-. 1889 

E. Davenport 1889 

Wadsworth Engraving Company. . . 1867 

Totals 900 240 

GRAND TOTAL OF ALL FACTORIF.S. 

Name. Ninnher Factories. 

Agricultural implements 11 

Material, machine, etc 13 

Engines 7 

Iron and steel products 21 

Publishers 14 

Florists 9 

Medicine, coffin, chemical companies. 9 

General factories 7 

Miscellaneous 51 

Totals 142 

N^ umber Factories. 

Grand total, July i. 1901 .... 142 
Grand total. January, 1900. . 123 

Licrease in eighteen months. 19 1,691 



Men. 


Women. 


4,000 




125 


1,400 




35 


500 




9 


900 




6 


400 




300 


250 




50 


275 




50 


250 




I 


900 




240 


8,875 


816 


Men and JVoi 


'uen. 


9 


,691 




8 


,000 





134 CENTENNIAL OF 



V 
PIONEER DAY. 



Tuesday, the 6th, was designated Pioneer Day, at which 
time the old people of the county were especially invited to be 
present. Many of them came, some who had seen the lands of 
Clark County changed from forests into fertile fields, the log- 
cabin give place to the fine farm houses which adorn our town- 
ships today, and the rough and often impassable roads trans- 
formed into smooth and elegant highways suitable for travel at 
all times of the year. These old pioneers held pleasant associa- 
tion with each other, and lived over again the many trying ex- 
periences, as well as those that were pleasant, of other days. On 
this day were read papers on the "Bench and Bar," and the "His- 
tory of the Medical Profession of Clark County." 

The arrangement was not out of place, for perhaps no classes 
of our citizens in early times experienced more inconvenience 
from necessary travel than the members of the legal and medical 
professions. Pioneer physicians especially found their practice 
very laborious, being compelled to visit distant parts of the count\ 
over roads which at some periods of the year were scarcely pass- 
able. At the meeting in the morning, A. P. L. Cochran, Esq., 
presided, who made an introductory address : 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 135 




A. V. V. COCHRAN, KSQ. 



ADDRESS OF A. R L. COCHRAN, ESQ, 



CHAIRMAN OF THE DAY. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The General Committee having named me chairman of this 
morning's proceedings, I beg leave, in recognition of that honor, 
to submit a few preHminary remarks. 

This day is designated on the program as Pioneer's Day, be- 
cause, after the addresses for this morning have been read, you 
will hear from some of our oldest residents their recollections of 
our pioneer ancestors. They will tell you of their habits and cus- 
toms and manner of living. These recollections will interest and 
benefit you great h, because we cannot know too much of these 
sturdy people, and the lesson of their lives is one whose study 
must redound to our profit and advantage. 

They will tell you how, as soon as they provided temporary 
shelter for themselves, they cast about them to erect the little 
church and the little schoolhouse, those bulwarks of civilization 
which have made our city and our State and our country what 
they are todav. They will tell you they were a God-fearing and 
Sabbath-observing people: that these were their most marked 
characteristics, and how. im1)uc(l with tliesc principles, they laid 



136 CENTENNIAL OF 

the foundation of our economic and social conditions wbicli liave 
withstood tlie shocks of one century, and will withstand those of 
many more, if the descendants prove worthy of their ancestrv. 

W'e are hearing much this week of the centurv's progress, 
and it has lieen great ; but we must remember our pioneer fathers 
and mothers did not have at their command the churches and 
schools and colleges and millions of money this generation has at 
its disposal to accomplish the great results we boast of. And we 
must further remember that these people planted the social fal)ric 
which, nurtured by their toil, their energy, and their suffering. 
has grown into the conditions which prevail today. 

But all is not progress that we see around us. Our pioneer 
ancestors, as we will be told, were a Sabl)ath-obscrving people ; 
and had they been establishing an ( )hio State Fair, I do not think 
they would have inaugurated it, as is proposed to be done in this 
now great State of Ohio next September, b}' opening it on the 
Sabbath day. They call such action modern liberality ; but a lib- 
erality which leads to the infraction of any commandment of 
Almighty God, promulgated amidst the thunderings of Sinai, is 
wrong. This is not progress ; it is retrogression. 

^'ou will hear today from one of the learned members of our 
medical profession, who will tell you of the progress in that 
■science during the past century. He will tell you of the changes 
in the practice ; how the old doctor exerted all his skill with the 
aid of his good lancet, to get the blood out of his patient, and how 
the modern practitioner exerts all his skill to keep the lilood in 
his patient. He will also tell you of a modern school which 
would do away with doctors altogether ; which would have us 
believe that sickness and disease are mere figments of the imagi- 
nation, hint as, notwithstanding, we continue to sicken and die as 
heretofore, we will doubtless always re(|uirc the skill and attention 
of our medical brethren. 

You will further hear today from one of the honored mem- 
bers of m}- own profession, who will tell you of the courts and 
lawyers of the i)ast. Judge Rockel cannot tell you of the ad- 
vancement and progress in the legal profession that Dr. Seys will 
show in the medical, because the fundamental principles of the 
law are the same todav as when the sun first shone on the hamlet 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 137 

of Spring'field. Aye, the same as when our Savior was horn. 
Aye, further back, the same as when they were first indicted in 
Holy Writ : for all principles of law and equity are derived from 
the Bible. 

It is true, the lawyers of today have more books than those 
of one hundred years ago. Go into a law library and you will 
find books piled up like Pelion upon Ossa : but they contain no 
new principles. They simply show the application of old prin- 
ciples to ever-chang"ing" facts. 

Our pioneer fathers and mothers builded l:)etter than tuey 
knew. Whilst self-reliant, they relied chiefly upon God. As a 
consequence, they laid the foundation of our social fabric broad 
and deep, and God crowned their efforts with success ; so that 
today we can proudly lioast of the results of their prayerful 
efforts. 

Success does not attend self-reliance alone. Take Napoleon, 
one of the greatest military geniuses of the world, as an illus- 
tration. In the pride of his success, he boasted that God always 
favored the strongest battalions : meaning there was no God ; but 
that all depended on the aliility of the commander and the 
strength of his army. His own career belied this statement. Let 
us see. The Sun of Austerlitz shone brightly down on the Mora- 
vian plain on that December morning which was to witness the 
fearful struggle between three empires. Xaught disturbed the 
quiet of that winter morning save the bellowing of the husband- 
man's cattle, and the twittering of winter Ijirds. But soon all 
was changed. Soon that scene of rural beauty was transformed 
into one of strife and carnage. And as the day wore on. it did 
seem as if Xapolcon was riglit : that there was no God. His eagle 
eye had seen that victory was again perched upon the banners of 
France, and when, to complete the rout of the opposing forces, he 
ordered the advance of the Imoerial (iuard, history tells he 
stood upon a little knoll overlooking the bloody field, and with 
folded arms and a proud smile playing over his face, glanced 
along the roadway the Old Guard was cutting through the foes 
of France. 

But Xapoleon little recked that a keener eye than his was 
looking down upon that battle field. Napoleon little recked that 



138 CENTENNIAL OF 

the God of Battles, who holds all in the hollow of His hand, but 
Whom he did not recognize, was directing the maneuvers of that 
field which he vainly supposed were under his control. Napoleon 
little recked that the roadway along which he was then proudly 
gazing, now paved with dead and dying Austrians and Russian^ 
was one of the roadways by which, under that God of Battles, he 
would afterward march to Waterloo. 

Napoleon relied upon himself and his boasted battalions. 
History tells us the consequences. Our pioneer fathers and 
mothers relied, it is true, upon themselves, but always under the 
guidance and direction of God ; and all around us today we see 
and are enjoying the glorious results. 

Thanking you for your attention to my remarks, we will now 
proceed with the program. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 139 




JUDGE W. M. ROCKBL. 



BENCH AND BAR. 



BY JUDGE WILLIAM MAHLON ROCKEL. 



A distinguished lawyer, and a great statesman, who left the 
impression of his very great intellect in the Senate of the United 
States and on the bench of our Supreme Court, Allen G. Thur- 
man, once said: "That without any boasting, and without any 
disposition to brag or boast, it is and has been for a great while 
my firm belief that, great as has been the bar of other States, 
there is no State in the Union that has had a bar of greater men 
than have appeared in the State of Ohio. That is my firm belief. 
I do not forget the great lawyers of Massachusetts, of Connecti- 
cut, of New York, of Pennsylvania, of Maryland, of Virginia, 
and of Kentucky. I do not forget any of them. ]\Iany of them 
I have seen and heard with great delight and with great instruc- 
tion. And yet, I repeat the opinion I have had for many long 
years, that no State has ever had within its limits an abler and 
better bar than the State of Ohio." 

Having heard this great encomium on the bar of our State, 
it would be supreme arrogance in me to claim for the bar of the 
City of Springfield, that it was the equal or the greatest in the 
State of Ohio. I can say, however, that, taking into considera- 
tion the date of the city's organization, its population, and the 



140 CENTENNIAL OF 

character of its industries, that the bar of the City of S])riiigtield 
and the County of Clark, compares favorably with any other city 
or county of the State. And in point of integrity, honor, and 
high character of its members, and general standing in the com- 
munity, it acknowledges a superior nowhere on the face of the 
earth. 

There is no record that any one within the confines of our 
city or county limits was ever questioned before a court organized 
under territorial laws. Under the constitution of 1802, it was 
provided that there should be a Supreme Court of thr^e or five 
judges, who were required to hold court once a year in each 
county in the State. This court had original and appellant juris- 
diction, both at Common law and in Chancery. By the rapid in- 
crease of population in the State, this court was soon greatly 
overtaxed; allowing the judges thirty days for court in bank at 
Cohmibus and one day for travel from one county to the other, 
making no allowance for sickness of the judges or any respite 
from labor, they had an average of less than seven and one-half 
days for the annual business of each county. The records, how- 
ever, disclose the fact that the cases were carefully considered, 
and the occupants of the bench were men of very great ability. 
The first session of the Supreme Court that was held in the City 
of Springfield was in 1805, the judges being Samuel Huntington, 
Chief Justice; and William Sprigg and Daniel Symmes, Asso- 
ciates. At this session three men were tried for shooting an In- 
dian, whose name was Kanawa-l\ickow. The accused were Isaac 
Broken, Archibald Dowen and Robert Rennick, who w'ere ac- 
quitted. This was before the organization of our county. The 
first session of the Supreme Court that was held in our county 
began on July 10, 1819. Hon. Calvin Pease was the Chief Judge, 
and Hon. John McLean was associated with him. Of this first 
Chief Justice who graced the bench of our county. Judge Thur- 
man once said, "That he was one of the finest specimens of man- 
hood that I ever saw, dressed in a way that would make a dude 
faint, the most perfect dress I ever saw on a man, and the nicest 
ruffles to his shirt bosom, looking the very beau ideal of a gentle- 
man of the olden times." 

The other member of that court, John McLean, thought so 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 141 

much of his profession as to dechne a caiuhdacv for the United 
States Senate, when his election was reasonably assured. He aft- 
erward became a member of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and served with distin.c^uished ability for a period of 
thirty-two years. From this time on, until the constitution of 
1852, the Supreme Court, with some of its members, g-ave an 
annual hearing to causes in the County of Clark and in the City 
of Sprinc^field. 

The Common Pleas Court, as orf:^anized by the constitution 
of 1802, consisted of three members, a presiding- judge, and two 
associates. They were appointed by joint ballot of both houses 
of the General Assembly, and held their offices for the term of 
seven years, "if so long they behaved well." The State was 
divided into districts or circuits. At first there were but three 
circuits in the State — these were afterward increased from time 
to time as business demanded. The composition of this court was 
very often criticised, and sometimes spoken of as a court of one 
hundred judges, that is. one judge and two ciphers. In jurv 
cases, undoubtedly the associate judges, who were not men skilled 
in the law. were practically ciphers, but in the trial of causes to 
the court they brought to the aid of the presiding judge, good 
common sense and business knowledge which was often an inval- 
uable assistance, and aided in making the finding of the court 
much more satisfactory than the verdict of a jurv. 

The first Court of Common Pleas held in Clark County was 
on April 7. 1818. with ( )rrin Parish as presiding judge; Daniel 
McKinnon, Joseph Tatman and Joseph Layton. associates. .\t 
the .August term of 1819, the record shows that Frederick C.rimke 
was the presiding judge. At the March term of the Common 
Pleas Court in 1820. Joseph H. Crane was the presiding judge, 
with the same associates as the first term. .\t the March term of 
the court in 1822. Samson Mason was, by order of the court, ap- 
I)ointcd Prosecuting .Attorney of the county. Judge Crane was 
presiding judge until the close of 1828. when he resigned, having 
been elected to Congress in the fall of that year. It is said that 
he was an able lawver and an excellent judge. That his manners 
and his conduct on the bench were such as won for him the 
esteem of all who had tran.sactions in the court during his presi- 
dencv. 



142 CENTENNIAL OF 

He was succeeded by Hon. George W. Holt, who continued 
to hold the office until 1834, at which time a new circuit was 
formed. Over this new circuit, which embraced the counties of 
Franklin, Madison, Clark, Champaign and Logan, and for a 
short tme Hardin County, Judge Joseph R. Swan was called to 
preside. He held the office from 1834 to 1845, when he resigned 
to return to the practice of law. Afterward, Judge Swan served 
with distinguished ability on the Supreme Court. But he will no 
doubt be longer remembered as the author of an incomparable 
volume on the practice in Justice of the Peace's Court, familiarly 
knowai as "Swan's Treaties," than as a lawyer or a judge. He 
was succeeded as presiding judge by the Hon. James L. Torbert, 
who occupied the position from 1846 until 1852, when the new 
constitution went into efifect. 

Judge Torbert was the first member selected from the Clark 
County Bar as a presiding judge on the Court of Common Pleas. 
He was afterward elected Judge of the Probate Court, and was 
a man of superior attainments and great literary taste. He was 
modest and unobtrusive. He was a man of strong convictions, 
and violently opposed to the institution of slavery. He was born 
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1796; came to Springfield in 
1824, and died very suddenly on the 15th of May, 1859, o" board 
a steamer on the Mississippi River. The associate judges of 
Clark County from 1831 to 1852 were Daniel McKinnon, William 
G. Serviss, Joseph Perrin, Ira Paige, John R, Lemon, John T. 
Stewart, Isaac Paint, John Hunt, Abraham D. Menness and 
Oliver Clark. The history of our county shows that these asso- 
ciate judges were men of honorable and respectable callings, and 
lived the lives of useful citizens. 

With the advent of the constitution of 1852 came the re- 
organization of the judiciary of Ohio. The Supreme Court no 
longer traveled on the circuit. For a while after the adoption of 
the present constitution one member of the Supreme Court would 
sit in each county in what was then known as the District Court. 
The Supreme Court held all its sessions at the City of Columbus. 
The Common Pleas Court no longer had associate judges, and 
there was organized a new court which had jurisdiction in pro- 
bate and testamentary matters, the appointment of executors and 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 143 

•guardians, and the settlement of accounts of executors, etc., and 
such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law. This court 
took awa}- from the Common Pleas Court many of the duties that 
formerly devolved upon associate judges, and was known as the 
Probate Court. Under the new constitution, all the judges were 
made elective, not appointive, as before. The first person to be 
■elected as judge of the Common Pleas Court of this district was 
a distinguished member of the Clark County Bar. Concerning 
the character and qualifications of William A. Rogers no word of 
disparagement has ever been uttered. None of the present mem- 
bers of our bar ever practiced law before him, and but few have 
any personal recollection concerning him. Those few who do re- 
member anything about him have only words of praise in refer- 
■ence to his legal abillity and general versatility. Judge W.H. West 
says : "He was a man combining both talent and genius, and cer- 
tainly one of the best lawyers in the Mad River Valley." He was 
born December 13, 1809, in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; 
studied law in Pittsburg, and in the fall of 1834 removed to the 
City of Springfield. He became prominent as a Whig in politics 
and was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated 
General Harrison in 1840. In 1851, as before stated, he was 
elected Common Pleas Judge, which position he occupied until 
1855, when he resigned his office on account of failing health. 
And on the 25th of May, of the same year, he died in the City of 
Springfield. One who knew him well says of him: "He was 
endowed with a brilliant intellect and with remarkable power of 
analysis ; he possessed a sparkling wit, was a logician of high 
order, and his eloquence was rich and impressive; these qualities 
made him an effective advocate and formidable antagonist in any 
case which he espoused ; he was a man of broad culture, and of 
liberal and comprehensive views." 

The next person called from the bar of Clark County to the 
position of Common Pleas Judge is justly entitled to be desig- 
nated as the greatest jurist that ever came from this bar. Will- 
iam White was born in England on the 28th day of January, 
1822, He came to this country with an uncle in 183 1. At 12 
years of age he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker for a term 
of nine years, but after serving six years of his apprenticeship. 



144 CENTENNIAL OF 

he purchased his time by giving his notes to his master. In 1846 
he was admitted to the bar. In 1847 ^^'^s elected Prosecuting 
Attorney, and three times re-elected. In 1856 he was elected 
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. And in 1861 was re- 
elected. In 1864 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court, 
and was three times re-elected. And in 1882 he was appointed 
by President Arthur, United States District Judge for the South- 
ern District of Ohio, and was confirmed by the Senate, but died 
before he could qualify for that high position. His death occur- 
ring as recent as 1883, leaves a personal recollection of many of 
his distinguishing characteristics among the older members of 
our bar. But from the fact that his duties called him away from 
our city, since 1864, most of the present generation of our law- 
yers remember nothing more about him than having seen his 
striking, strong, pleasant face. For twenty-seven years he wore 
the judicial ermine, stainless and spotless as ever the mantle fell 
from a human judge. He was an affectionate and devoted hus- 
band, a considerate, kind, and indulgent father. His manners 
were modest, kind and unassuming ; to his brethren of the bar he 
was the personification of kindness and generosity. His popu- 
larity among all classes of people was evidenced by the fact that 
every time he was a candidate for their suffrages, he led his 
ticket by many hundreds of votes. He was a man of very great 
industry. He may have had compeers on the bench who were 
more brillliant, and quicker to grasp some intricate question of 
law, but none ever exceeded him in an industrious investigaton 
and firm determination to arrive at a right and just conclusion. 
His life was no doubt shortened by his close application to the 
arduous duties devolving upon him as a member of the Supreme 
Court. 

From 1864 until 1875 the Common Pleas Court was presided 
over by judges from other counties. In the previous year an 
additional judge having been granted to this district, James S. 
Goode, a practitioner at this bar for nearly thirty years, was 
elected to that important position. Declining a re-election, he 
served for ten years, with the general approbation of all persons 
who had business with him in his judicial capacity. James S. 
Goode was born in Warren County, Ohio, January 22, 1823, and 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 145 

Avas admitted to the bar in 1848. In the same year he opened an 
office in the City of Springfield. He was Mayor of the City of 
Springfield and Prosecuting Attorney for two terms. He died 
after an illness of but a few days, on April 10, i8c)T. Judge 
Goode is remembered kindly by all the older members of the 
present bar, and by many of the younger ones. When he took 
his seat upon the bench, the docket was crowded by the accumu- 
lation of years, justice was tardily administered; "the law's de- 
lavs" was much cause of dissatisfaction. He brought to the 
bench his well-known energy at the bar, and soon made order 
out of disorder ; and in a reasonably short length of time had the 
docket in such a condition that a suit could be brought and tried 
during th.e same term. He deservedly won a high and enviable 
reputation not only with the public, but with the bar of this and 
other counties. Imposing in appearance, quick of apprehension, 
learned and patient, he was an ideal on the bench, and many of 
the members of the bar have reason to remember his extreme 
kindnss to them in the earlier years of their professional life. 
After Judge Goode's retirement from the bar, he practiced law 
with his son Frank until the latter's death, in 1887. With the 
death of his only son, Judge Goode seemed to have lost much of 
his interest in the profession, and from that time vmtil his death 
did not appear in court very frequently. His long and extensive 
practice at the bar, with his quickness of mind, made him an ex- 
ceedingly good Nisi Prius judge. 

Judge Goode was succeeded on the bench by Charles Rogers 
White. Charles R. \\niite was the only son of Judge William 
White. He was born i'.i the City of Springfield, the 25th day of 
]\Tay, 1849. Admitted to the bar 1873, and in 1884 was elected 
Judge of the Court of Conmion Pleas, and re-elected in 1889. 
He died on the 29th dav of July, 1890. in the forty-second year 
of his age. Charles R. Vv'hite was a worthy son of an illustrious 
father. Ho was c|uicker to arrive at conclusions, and therefore, 
in the opinion of some, was a better Nisi Prius judge than his 
distinguished, father. He was studious, honest, and exceedingly 
sensitive to any act of his which might cause pain to the feelings 
01 an.y member of the bar. His dealings with all persons were 
conducted with the sole ]nirpose of justice and right. He re- 



146 CENTENNIAL OF 

vered the memory of his father, and it was the highest ambition 
of his Hfe to follow in his footsteps ; and should he have lived, 
no doubt hig-h judicial honors would have fallen upon him. As 
it was, taken from the bench in the prime of life, he left behind 
him a memorv cherished by all who came in contact with him. 

Upon the death of Charles R. White, Governor Campbell 
appointed Francis Marion Hagan to fill the vacancy, until the 
regular election. Judge Hagan was born June lo, 1844, in Mad 
River Township of this county. By his own efforts he secured 
his education, and is in every sense of the term a "self-made 
man." He was admitted to the bar in 1873, and in 1879 and 
again in 1883 was elected City Solicitor. In 1887 he was ap- 
pointed postmaster. While Judge Hagan's occupation of the 
bench was for the brief period of four months, yet it was suffi- 
cient to demonstrate the fact that he possessed exceptional judi- 
cial qualifications ; and no doubt were it not for the fact that his 
political belief is not in accord with that of the prevailing party in 
this district, his judicial career would have been very much ex- 
tended. Judge Hagan made a careful, painstaking, able, and 
conscientious judge. Since his service upon the bench he has 
been engaged in the active practice of his profession, and is now^ 
the senior partner of the firm of Hagan & Kunkle. In all matters 
connected with the welfare of the City of Springfield he has al- 
ways taken a prominent part ; and is chairman of the committee 
having in charge this centennial celebration. 

In 1890, John C. Miller was elected to fill the vacancy made 
by the death of Judge Charles R. White. In January, 1891, he 
relieved Judge Hagan, who had been appointed to fill the va- 
cancy until an election. Judge Miller came to the Common Pleas 
bench with a long career in public life. His father, Reuben Miller, 
likewise had a long public career in our city and county. He was 
born in the City of Springfield, April 13, 1834. He was appren- 
ticed as a printer, afterward took up the study of law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1855. In 1861 he was elected Mayor of 
the City of Springfield, and in the fall of the same year was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and several times 
re-elected. In 1869 he was chosen City Solicitor, and held the 
office by repeated elections until 1876, when he resigned to accept 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 147 

-the position of Probate Judge, to which office he had been elected 
in the previous October. This position he held until 1891, when 
he resigned to accept the position of Common Pleas Judge, to 
which he had been elected in the previous fall. He was twice re- 
elected to this position. He died September 17, 1900, at his resi- 
dence in this city. Judge Miller was a familiar character for 
many years, to the people of the City of Springfield ; he possessed 
great aptitude for politics, and had few superiors in the man- 
aging of men to secure official positions. His learning of the law 
did not seem to come from books, but rather from strong com- 
mon sense ; intuitively he seemed to correctly grasp the rights 
that ought to exist between man and man. He was quick and 
impulsive, possessed of a temper which at times made him dis- 
agreeable to do business with, yet much of this irascibility no 
doubt came from long and continual ill health. His convictions 
were strong, and no doubt expressions were sometimes made that 
carried him beyond his real intention. He had a determined idea 
of justice and right. Beneath an austere manner and demeanor, 
was a heart as kind and open to a person in distress as was ever 
possessed by man. With all his faults — and who has none? — he 
was a strong, able, conscientious judge, an exceedingly good 
interpreter of the law, and an upright citizen. 

Upon the death of Judge Miller, the bar selected for ap- 
pointment Jacob Kreider Mower, who was afterward, in the fall 
-of 1900, elected and now occupies the position of Common Pleas 
Judge. Judge Mow^er was born in Franklin County, Pennsyl- 
vania, April 4, 1833, was admitted to the bar in 1858, in the 
same year took up his residence in the City of Springfield. He 
was City Solicitor from 1868 to 1870, and the next two years a 
member of the Legislature. Other than serving upon the School 
Board, these were the only public positions which Judge Mower 
held until his present one. Judge Mower comes to the bench 
with ripe experience, gathered from a varied and extensive prac- 
tice at the bar. His character is high and unblemished, his deci- 
sions are prompt and fearless, and he gives promise of making 
a judicial career equal to that of any of his predecessors. 

The constitution of 1852 gave to the Probate Court certain 
defined jurisdiction, and such other as may be provided by law. 



J48 CENTENNIAL OV 

This provision allowing other jurisdiction to be conferred upon 
the Probate Court has made it a court very little inferior in its 
importance to the people than the Court of Common Pleas. As^ 
first intended by many of the members of the Constitutional Con- 
vention, it was to be an inferior court which might be presided 
over by men not learned in thie ilaw. With the extended jurisdic- 
tion that has been conferred, it is now universally believed that 
on account of its importance, its! occupant should not only be 
a lawyer, but a good lawyer. The first person to fill the position 
of Probate Judge was not of our profession. James S. Halsey 
was born in Warren County, December 7, 1804; he came to 
Springfield in 1822, and served as Auditor from 1826 to 1836; 
and from 1836 to 1852, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. 
Tn the fall of 185 1 he was elected 1^-obate Judge, and served one 
term. He died in Plymouth, Ind., January, 1876. It has been 
said of him that "he had an innate scorn of meanness, mendacity 
and sham, which was as natural to him as it was to breathe the 
vital air. His charity was large, and while giving unostenta- 
tiously, he gave munificently ; indeed, in everything he did there 
was an entire absence of ostentation, and, next to dishonesty and 
fraud, it was probably the object of his profoundest contempt." 
Such were some of the characteristics of the first Probate Judge. 

The next Probate Judge was James L. Torbert, of whom we 
have spoken heretofore as an occupant of the Common Pleas 
bench. Upon Judge Torbert's death, in 1859, John H. Littler 
was appointed to the vacancy, and thereafter elected for three 
full terms, going out of office in 1870. 

Judge Littler was born near Winchester, Virginia, Septem- 
ber I, 1820. He came to Clark County in his youth. In 1855 he 
was elected a member of the Legislature of the State of Ohio. 
In 1857 ^''6 ^^''is admitted to the bar; in 1881, twenty-six years 
from the time that he first entered the General Assembly of Ohio, 
he was again elected a member of that body and re-elected in 
1883. He died June 8, 1885. Judge Littler was perhaps more of 
a politician than a lawyer, yet it may, however, properly be said 
of him that he was a faithful, honest public servant, and a good 
citizen. 

The successor of Judge Littler upon the Probate bench was 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 149 

Enoch G. Dial, who was born in Clermont County in 1817. He 
came to this county in 1845 as a professor in the Springfield 
Academy. In 1840 he was admitted to the bar. He occupied the 
position of Probate Jndge for two terms, from 1870 to 1876. In 
1879 he was elected and served two terms in the Ohio House of 
Representatives. He was a man of scholarly attainments, pos- 
sessed of fine literary taste and ac(|nirements ; active and indus- 
trious in promoting- the interests of various character which 
affected the welfare of the City of Springfield. He was careful 
and painstaking, and left the reputation of an able, cautious and 
conscientious judge. He died in 1896- 

Judge Dial was succeeded on the Probate bench by John C. 
Miller, who occupied the same until December. 1890, when he 
resigned to accept the i^sition of Common Pleas Judge. Madi- 
son Over was appointed to fill the vacancy of seven weeks, to 
February 9, 189 1. when the writer of this paper assumed the 
position of Judge of Probate Court. He occupied the same for 
two terms, and was succeeded in 1897 by James P. Goodwin, the 
present incumbent. 

In 1883 an amendment was passed affecting the judiciary of 
our State bv the organization of a new intermediate court, known 
as the Circuit Court. Previous to this time, it was the practice 
for three members of the Common IMeas bench to sit as an ap- 
pellant court and review actions brought from the Common 
Pleas. As this court was composed of members who sat in the 
trial of the case below, it therefore made the judge review his 
own decision. It was not very satisfactory, and, besides, the 
Common Pleas Courts, by the increase of business, had so much 
of the time of their judges taken U]) that, as judges of the Dis- 
trict Court, they could not give that consideration to the causes 
before them that was required. Any way. the people were sat- 
isfied to have a new intermediate court. At the first convention 
to select judges for this new court. Clark County presented the 
name of Judge Mower, but was unsuccessful in having its candi- 
date endorsed for the nomination. Afterward, when Judge Will- 
iams was promoted to the Supreme bench, Clark County agam 
presented a candidate in the, person of Judge Charles R. W bite, 
but was again doomed to the disappointment of defeat. In 1894, 



150 CENTENNIAL OF 

upon the retirement of Judge Stewart, Clark County again pre- 
sented a candidate in the person of Augustus N. Summers. This 
time carrying into execution the x>ld adage that the third time 
brings success. Mr. Summscrs received the nomination. He was 
elected in the fall of that year and again re-elected in 1900. 
Judge Summers was born in Richland County, June 13, 1856' 
admitted to the bar in 1881. His gentlemanly conduct, courteous 
bearing, and industrious habits, have made him a wise and suc- 
cessful judge. 

Until the year 1887, the Mayor of the City of Springfield 
performed the duties of a police magistrate. The Legislature of 
the previous year passed a law creating the office of Police Judge. 
The first occupant of this position was Luther F. Young. He 
was succeeded in 1891 by Charles E. Morris, now a resident of 
Columbus. In 1893, O. B. Trout became Judge of the Police 
Court, and in 1895 he was succeeded by William R. Horner, who- 
in turn was succeeded in 1899 by J. J. Milller, the present in- 
cumbent. All the occupants of the Police Court bench were 
members of our bar and are still such with the exception of 
Charles E. Morris. 

"Great men die and are forgotten ; 
Wise men speak ; their words of wisdom 
Perish in the ears that hear them." 

This, no doubt, has been the penalty of a large portion of 
the members of our bar. The court records disclose the indi- 
vidual names of persons who had proceedings there. But other- 
wise no record appears containing the names of the members of 
our bar, since the organization of our Common Pleas Court. In 
order to enable future generations to know who have been so 
fortunate or unfortunate as to expend their eloquence in our 
courts, I would suggest that a register be kept by the Clerk of 
our Court, in which every person practicing there should be re- 
quired to register. The first attorney whose name appears uport 
our law record is that of Henry Bacon. Other names closely 
following are those of George W. Tewett and L Cooley. In the 
Chancery Court, the first paper was filed by H. Flournoy, and 
soon thereafter the names of T. C. Flournoy and William Else- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 151 

berry appear as attorneys. I am not positive that any of these, 
with the exception of George W. Jewett, were residents of our 
city. Tewett combined the newspaper business with his law busi- 
ness, and was editor of the "Pioneer." The records of our court 
would not be an infallible guide to furnish a list of attorneys of 
our bar ; for, in the earlier times, it was the custom of the lawyers 
to practice in various counties in the circuit. Throwing their 
saddle-bags, with a few books, on their horses, they would follow 
the judges from county to county, either to try causes in each 
countv. Or in the hope of being retained in some one. Clark 
County l)cing new, and the City of Springfield young, many dis- 
tinguished, counsel came from distant parts of the State. From 
recollection, an early settler has given the names of the follow- 
ing lawyers who practiced law here prior to the adoption of the 
present 'constitution: George W. Jewett, Piatt, Higgins, Mott. 
A. G. r.urnett, William A. Rogers. James M. Hunt, William 
White. T. 1'. Underwood, Joseph P.. Craig, Joseph Anthony, 
James L. Torbert, Robert W. Carroll, William Gushing, Sam- 
son Mason, Charles Anthony and Harvey Vinal. 

In 1852, a directory of the City of Springfield gave the oc- 
cupation of the following persons as attorneys-at-law : Charles 
Anthony, J. R. Coverdill, John Foos (the directory was mis- 
taken; Mr'. Foos read law. Init was never admitted to the bar), 
George Frey. J. S. Goode, Samson Mason, Rodney Mason, R. R. 
McNemar, A.'d. Rogers, Samuel Shellabarger, George Spence, 
J. L. Torbert. William White, and H. Blair Wilson. 

General Samson Alason and General Charles Anthony were 
by far the most conspicuous members of our bar from 1824 to 
i860. \\'hile both were of the same political faith, yet they were 
rivals in politics as well as at the bar. General Mason was more 
aristocratic in his bearing and deportment, and more scholarly 
in his attainments, and more popular with the learned and aristo- 
cratic clement of our people, while General .Anthony, of fine 
presence and agreeable manners, was more approachable and 
more ])opular with those who scorned to belong to what they 
termed the "cultured aristocracy." General Mason was born in 
New Jersey in 1793. He was the first Prosecuting Attorney of 
Clark" County, served a number of terms in the Legislature, w^as 



152 CENTENNIAL OF 

eight years in the United States Congress, and (hiring the ad- 
ministration of Mihard FiHrnore was United States Attorney for 
Ohio, and was a meniher of the Constitutional Convention of 
1852. As a lawyer he had a reputation wliich extended heyond 
the State. His professional circuit emhraced the counties of 
Clark, Greene, Champaign, Union, Logan and Madison. He 
was an honest lawyer and faithful manager of all husiness in- 
trusted to his care. His hearing was dignified, and his language 
that of a scholarly gentleman. He was in every sense of the term 
a true gentleman of tlw old school. He died in this city, Fehru- 
ary 1, 1869. 

(leneral Anthony was born in Richmond, \'irginia, and 
came to Ohio in 1811, and to Springfield in 1824, and died March 
31, 1862. His popular manners soon gave him a practice and a 
prominence at the bar that established him as a worthy rival of 
General Mason. He was not so fortunate in being elected to 
public positions, l)Ut for a number of years was a distinguished 
member of the General Assembly. In 1840 he was appointed by 
General Harrison as United States Attorney for Ohio, and held 
it for four years. Always active and enterprising, in all public 
measures he was foremost. He gave very great attention to 
the Masonic fraternity, and was elected Grand Master of the 
State. After his death a new lodoe of Masons was organized in 
our city which bears his name. 

A great lawyer who came upon the scene of action al)()ut the 
time that Mason and Anthony were drifting awa\- bv reason of 
old age, was Samuel Shellabarger. In many respects he was the 
most prominent and gifted of the lawyers that ever honored the 
bar of Clark County with his presence. He was born December 
10, 1817, in Mad River Township, of this county, and died Au- 
gust 7, 1896. in Washington, D. C. Admitted to the bar in 1846, 
he came to practice law in Springfield in 1848. He was elected 
to the General Assembly in 1852, and to the Congress of the 
United States in i860, and served several terms until 1873. In the 
United States Congress he was recognized as among the fore- 
most of statesmen, and it was said by Blaine that "he was distin- 
guished for the logical and analvtical character of his mind. 
Without the gift of oratory, paying little h.eed to llie graces of 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 153 

speech. Mr. Shellabargcr conquered by the intrinsic strength of 
his argument, \vhich generally amounted to demonstration. His 
mind possessed many of the qualities which distinguished Mr. 
Lincoln." After retiring from Congress, he removed to Wash- 
ington for the purpose of practicing his profession, and was en- 
gaged in many of the most important matters of litigation that 
appeared in the Supreme Court of the United States. His indus- 
try and faith to duty and to his country were crowning virtues; 
he was as good an example as the history of our profession fur- 
nishes, of an able, learned and Christian lawyer. 

George Spence's name appears upon the record about the 
same time as ^\r. Shellabarger's. He was born in Pike Town- 
ship in 1828, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. died Februar)' 
6, 1895. He had the reputation of being the best jury lawyer 
that ever appeared in our court. Popular in his manner, he had 
a larger personal acquaintance in the days of his prime than any 
person in our county. Active in l)ody. with a wonderfully live 
and vigorous mind, he brought into the trial of his cases great 
vigor. His argument in a cause was sometimes compared to 
zigzag lightning — you never knew where it was going to strike, 
but it was sure to strike somewhere, and with great force. Mr. 
Spence had the misfortune of not receiving what might be termed 
a good education, and his environments and associations in early 
life were not su ch as led him to the highes elevation of 
a good citizen. Naturally, he had a mind which, perhaps, never 
was surpassed by any member of our bar. He was active and 
energetic in matters pertaining to the welfare of our city. A 
Democrat in politics, prevented his acquirement of political posi- 
tions. l>ut for many years he was acknowledged as one of the 
uheel-horses of that partx . He was a delegate to the celebrated 
Charleston Convention, in i860, which adjourned to Baltimore 
and nominated Stephen A. Douglas for the Presidency, which 
precipitated the terrible civil conflict of 1861. Large investments 
and loose business habits caused Mr. Spence to lose his property 
in his declining (lavs. He ])ossessed many excellent traits of 
character, and was very faithful to the interests of clients con- 
fided to his care. In his long active professional and business 
career he aided manv persons needing aid and assistance. W bile 



154 CENTENNIAL OF 

he was not a great jurist, he was, in his palmiest days, an exceed- 
ingly good trial lawyer. 

Purely as a lawyer — and he sought distinction in no other 
way, excepting that of good citizenship — Samuel A. Bowman 
had no peer at the bar of Clark County, and but few in the State 
of Ohio or the United States. He was born at Zanesville, Janu- 
ary 13, 1832. graduated from our own Wittenberg College in 
1852, and commenced the practice of law in the City of Spring- 
field in 1854, continuing in a large and lucrative practice until 
the day of his death, which occurred July 5, 1895. His early as- 
sociations with General Mason gave him a large clientage in his 
younger days. He was purely a lawyer, and his profession was- 
his only ambition. His practice extended throup"!! all the courts 
of the United States, and he was able and worthy to meet any 
adversary in that broad field. He possessed a mind of great 
natural vigor, which was trained to its highest capacity by 
methodical study, reading and thought. Often on the street his 
mind was engrossed with thoughts of matters pertaining to 
his profession, and he would pass a friend without recognizing^ 
him. This gave the impression to many people that he was aris- 
tocratic in his ideas and selfish in his disposition. It is true he 
was not a good "mixer" with the populace ; as a politician he was 
not a success; but as to all his dealings with man, he was just 
and generous. He had the power to grasp the salient features 
of his case to a wonderful degree, and could plan and formulate 
the method of action and execute a defense second to none. He 
was the originator of the beautiful Ferncliff Cemetery, the Sav- 
ings Bank, the Associated Charities, and other matters pertaining 
to the city's welfare. Three sons— Edmond O., John E., and 
Border — continue the lucrative practice left them by their father, 
and exhibit many of his distinguishing characteristics, Border 
giving his attention chiefly to the practice of Patent Law, in 
which his noted father was an adept. 

In 1864 the names of the following persons are given as 
practicing law at our bar: Aaron Cochran, A. P. Linn Cochran,^ 
David M. Cochran, John B. Hagan, D. A. Plarrison, Saul S. 
Hinkle, Samson Mason, Samuel Bowman, T. J. Pringle, J. K. 
Mower, George C. Richardson, Joshua D. Sharon, Samuel Shel- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 155 

labarger, J. S. Goode, George Spence, John McGaffey, and H. 
Vinal. David M. Cochran, a brother of A. P. Linn Cochran, 
died the latter part of the sixties. He was a very brilliant lawyer, 
possessed of many excellent traits. 

In 1881, the following- were enrolled as members of our bar: 
George Arthur, S. A. Bowman, A. T. Byers, M. T. Burnham, 
W. F. Bevitt, A. G. Burnett, A. P. L. Cochran, C. W. Constan- 
tine, Milton Cole, B. Chinn, E. G. Dial, W. H. Dugdale, Charles 
Dunlap, Graham Deuwell, A. H. Gillett, Frank C. Goode, F. M. 
Hagan, E. O. Hagan, W. R. Horner, James Johnson, Jr., O. B. 
Johnson, J. Warren Keifer, C. C. Kirkpatrick, John H. Littler, 
J. K. Mower, Oscar T. Martin, P. B. Martin, B. F. Martz, J. F. 
McGrew, J. J. Miller, Percy Norton, W. S. Newsberry, James H. 
Piles, Thomas J. Pringle, George C. Rawlins, J. H. Rabbitts, R. 
C. Rodgers, W. M. Rockel, C. B. Rockhill, D. S. Runyan, George 
Spence, W. A. Scott, Frank Showers, Joseph Tritt, E. S. Wal- 
lace, F. W. Willis, W. H. Willis, Charles R. White, Fletcher 
White, Amos Wolf, Walter L. Weaver, C. F. Yakey. 

There are other members of our bar whose names do not 
appear in the list above given, who died in early age or removed 
to other scenes of action. James Willis came within forty votes 
of being elected Mayor, and died suddenly about the year 1870. 
He was a young lawyer of brilliant parts and promising future. 
Milton Cole, a member of this bar, was born in 1848, elected 
Mayor of the city in 1875, and again in 1877; was a man of quiet 
demeanor, with considerable legal ability. For a number of 
years before his death he suffered from a paralytic stroke, which 
incapacitated him. He died in 1894. J. J. Hanna, a member of 
this bar and Mayor of the city in 1870, removed from the city, 
and shortly thereafter died. J. F. Oglevee was a former member 
of this bar and partner of General Keifer, served as County Au- 
ditor from 1871 to 1874 ; thereafter represented this county two 
terms in the Legislature, and was State Auditor for a number of 
years, and is now a resident of Columbus, engaged in manu- 
facturing. 

Frank C. Goode, son of Judge James S. Goode, was born in 
this city in 1853, admitted to the bar in 1875, and died in 1887. 
He was a young man having many of the striking characteristics 



156 CENTENNIAL OF 

of his distinguished father, and, had not death called him so 
soon, would no douht have had a very distinguished legal career. 
Willis S. Walker, son of General Moses Walker, of Kenton, was 
for a short time a member of our bar. Afterward he was Chief 
Clerk in the Secretary of State's office under General Robinson. 
From there he went West, and died in the prime of young man- 
hood. He was of studious habits, and, for his age, a verv good 
lawyer. 

John D. lUirnett, who died in January. 1899, was a member 
of our bar. but for many years was not actively engaged in the 
profession. He is remembered as a kindly old gentleman who 
painstakingly and carefully looked after the interests entrusted to 
his care. John H. Thomas was admitted to the bar in 185 1, but 
soon thereafter went into the manufacturing business, in which 
he acquired great wealth. In later years he mingled some in 
State politics, but held no important positions. Percy Norton, 
James Homan and Randolph Coleman, one time members of our 
bar, are now also engaged in the more lucrative calling of manu- 
facturing. George Frey, who \\'as a member of the bar in 1852, 
and is yet alive and with us, was but a short time if ever an active 
practitioner. The venerable Thomas F. McGrew was for nine 
years an active member of the Steubenville bar, but never prac- 
ticed here. 

William D. Hill, later a Congressman in Northern Ohio, 
was at one time a member of our bar and Mayor of the city in 
the early sixties. Charles Evans, who was afterward a Common 
Pleas Judge in Cincinnati, and now a practicing member of that 
bar, was a member of our bar during the latter part of the six- 
ties. There was also about the same time an attorney by the 
name of Jacob R. McGarry, a member of our bar, who afterward 
went to Cincinnati. From the time of his admission, in 1868. 
until 1893, when he left for New York City, no one was better 
known at our bar than Edward S. Wallace, who was born in 
Kentucky in 1846 and came to Springfield in 1855. Mr. Wallace 
was a man of commanding presence, versatile in thought and 
action, popular in manner and demeanor. His greatest force was 
in the criminal practice, where his fine appearance and great ora- 
torical powers gave him more than ordinary success. He was a 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 157 

brilliant conversationalst, but not as careful and cautious in his 
habits as he might have been. He was at one time a Democratic 
candidate for Attorney General, afterward elected as an inde- 
pendent candidate for Mayor, and still later chosen by the Repub- 
licans of Clark County as their candidate for Congress. 

Of the present members of our l)ar in active practice, (jen- 
eral Keifer is the oldest as well as the most distinguished. He 
is strictly a product of Clark County, born in Bethel Township. 
January 30, 1836. Admitted to the bar in January, 1858; enter- 
ing the Civil War in 1861, he rose to the rank of Brevet Major 
General of Volunteers in 1865. In 1876 he was elected to Con- 
gress and thereafter re-elected three times. In 1881 he was 
elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1898 he was 
appointe4 a Major General of Volunteers in the Spanish War. 
While not engaged on the field of war or in the halls of Congress, 
General Keifer was an active, energetic member of our bar, and 
still continues to be such. He never in his life knew what it was 
to be idle or take a vacation. A few years ago there was issued 
from the press a very creditable work of which he was the au- 
thor, entitled, "Slavery and Four Years of War." He was an 
excellent soldier, an energetic legislator, a good lawyer, and in 
all respects ever was and still is a good citizen of our community. 
It is the wish of all that he may long continue to remain with us. 

Among others of our older members of the bar, whose namej« 
I would not be justified in omitting, is .\. P. Linn Cochran (the 
honorable chairman of this day). Mr. Cochran was born (1 pre- 
sume he will not have any objection to my stating his age) in 
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1836, and came to our bar in 
1859. Since that time he has been a lawyer, walking strictly in 
the higher plane and true nobility of a lawyer in his chosen pro- 
fession. The reason that he has not received distinction else- 
where is because he would not accept official positions. I need 
not say to you that which you all know, he is a citizen "whom 
all would delight to honor." 

T. J. Pringle was born in Clark County, near South Charles- 
ton, in 1838, and admitted to our bar in 1864, and was Prosecut- 
ing .\ttorney shortly thereafter for seven years. Mr. Pringle is 
too well known to everybody to need any particular comment. 



158 CENTENNIAL OF 

He is of fine appearance, affable and genial, and during his ca- 
reer at our bar was as well beloved for his kindly social qualities 
as any member who ever graced it by his presence. Mr. Pringle 
served two terms as State Senator from our Senatorial District. 

George C. Rawlins, a present, able, active, and energetic 
member of our bar, was Prosecuting Attorney from 1876 to 1880, 
and thereafter served with distinguished honor for two terms in 
the lower house of the General Assembly. Walter L. Weaver 
served ten years creditably as Prosecuting Attorney, and from 
1896 to 1900 was an able member from this district to the United 
States Congress. 

Chase Stewart served two terms as Prosecuting Attorney, 
from 1889 to 1895 ; and from 1895 to 1899 he served two terms 
in the General Assembly. Horace W. Stafford has served two 
terms as Prosecuting Attorney. M. T. Burnham and D. Z. Gard- 
ner have each ably served one term as City Solicitor. Albert H. 
Kunkle creditably filled the position for four successive terms. 
Victor Y. Smith is the present incumbent of that office. John L. 
Plummer very ably served one term as State Senator from this 
Senatorial District. 

Frank W. Geiger is now Referee in Bankruptcy. J. F. 
McGrew served two terms in the Legislature. He was a promi- 
nent member and came very near being elected Speaker. He is 
a good public speaker and now President of the Commercial 
Club. 

James Johnson, Jr., a good lawyer and good fellow, credit- 
ably served one term as Mayor. John B. McGrew is the present 
Prosecuting Attorney. Oscar T. Martin and George Arthur, 
both eminent members of our bar, have never held public posi- 
tions. Mr. Arthur has not, for the reason that he belongs to the 
party in the minority, and, further, that he thinks more of his 
profession than he does of political positions. Mr. Martin has 
not occupied public positions solely for the reason that he wishes 
to devote all his time and energy to the practice of his profes- 
sion, and by doing so he has built up an enviable practice and 
bids fair in the not far distant future to be the leading member 
of our bar. 

It is no fault of John L. Zimmerman's that he has not occu- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 159 

pied public positions. He expects to be Governor some day, and 
all join in wisbino^ bini success. 

Tbere arc otlier members of our bar wbo, by their merit, 
are entitled to distinct mention in this paper, and some of 
whom no doubt have occupied positions of trust and honor. But 
these matters are common to the knowledge of all, and the limits 
of my paper will not permit them to be individualized. 

On several occasions in the past the bar has organized for 
the purpose of advancing the interests of its members and main- 
taining the dignity of the profession. But for various reasons 
about a'll that would be accomplished, would be a meeting, some 
strong speeches about maintaining the dignity of the profession, 
possibly an assessment for dues, an election, and then — a quiet, 
unobtrusive death. However, probably by reason of the in- 
terest that the bar has in maintaining an excellent law library, 
the present Bar Association has had a longer existence than any of 
its predecessors and bids fair to remain with us for some time to 
come. The present Clark County Bar Association was organized 
July 6, 1888, with Hon. J. K. Mower as President; A. N. Sum- 
mers, Vice President ; W. M. Rockel, Secretary, and George S. 
Dial, Treasurer. In March, 1892, for the purpose of raising 
money to buy books for the library, it became incorporated. An 
enjoyable feature of the meetings of this Bar Association is the 
custom that has come into vogue, of the new President, on his 
induction into office, annually, giving a spread to which all mem- 
bers of the bar are invited. 

"There St. John mingles with the friendly bowl, 
The flow of reason and feast of soul." 

The Bar Association formerly met monthly, and should do 
so now in compliance with its by-laws, but usually the meetings 
are only held annually, or at the call of the President. There is 
an annual fee of five dollars attached to the membership, which 
is applied to the fund for the purchase of books to keep up the 
library. The present officers of the association are : James 
Johnson, Jr., President ; F. W. Geiger, Vice President ; Jacob N. 
Harner, Secretary, and Clement Collins, Treasurer. This sketch 
of our bench and bar would be incomplete did it not contain a 



160 CENTENNIAL OF 

word in reference to our present excellent lilirary. Woni the be- 
ii'inning" of a few volumes, it iia? grown until it now numbers 
nearly three thonsaml volumes at a total cost of about $10,000. 
i'or a considerable time the matter of a library had been a subject 
of speculation and discussion among- the members of our bar. 
and when the new Court House was completed, a room was pro- 
vided for that purpose. lUit. like nuiuy other things, it needed 
something to make the start in that direction. In 1886 or 1887, 
in a casual conversation. Judge Charles R. White remarked that 
he had a fund in his hands as treasurer of a defunct r>ar Associa- 
tion, and that he would like to be relieved of his responsibility, 
but there was no knowledge of the persons who had contributed 
the fund, or to whom it should be returned. The writer sug- 
gested to him to invest it in books, for the nucleus of a library in 
the Court House. He responded that if the consent of certain 
members of the bar, whom he presumed had contributed the 
fund, would be secured, he would gladly turn it over for that 
puqsose. The consent of such members of the bar having been 
obtained, and the fund turned over to the writer, it was b\' him 
invested in the \\'est System of Reporters. The bound volumes 
were placed in the library anil the advanced sheets were kept at 
the writer's otfice until a librarian was appointed. The fund 
amounted to $30<S. Afterward, upon the organization of a Bar 
Association, a Roard of Trustees was appointed for the librarv. 
This first board was composed of Judge C. R. \\'hite, Oscar T. 
Martin and \\'. M. Rockel. Afterward A. S. Rogers. Albert H. 
Kunkle. F. M. Hagafn. with Rockel and White, constittited the 
board. By this time it was ascertained that the library of George 
Spence could be purchased for a very reasonable sum. A contri- 
bution was taken up among the members of the bar. and the 
library purchased. This was the tirst substantial addition to the 
previous purchase of the \\est Reporters. Judge ?^ lower has 
been an active member of the Board of Trustees for the Library 
for the past ten years. The Legislature having in the meantime 
passed a law permitting the court to appoint a librarian, Mr. 
Oliver H. Miller, a member of the bar. accepted the position for 
a number of years and turned the salary over to be applied in the 
purchase of books. Funds were also received from certain 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



161 




GEXEBAL SAMSON MASOX. 



General Samson Mason was born in Xew Jersey, 1793; died 
in Springfield, Ohio, 1869. He was a noted lawyer in Southwest- 
ern Ohio. He served in both branches of the Ohio State Legisla- 
ture. He reached the rank of major-general in the militia of the 
State. He was elected to Congress in 1834 and served four suc- 
cessive terms in that body. During the administration of Millard 
Fillmore he was United States District Attorney for Ohio. He 
was a member of the convention that formed the present Consti- 
tution of the State, in 1850- 1, and was an influential personage in 
that body. In all movements for the improvement of Springfield 
materially and morally. General Mason was always interested, 
and helped in every good cause to the extent of his ability. 



1G2 



CENTENNIAL OF 




GENEKAT. CHARLES ANTHONY. 



General Charles Anthony was born at Richmond, Virginia. 
He came to Ohio near the beginning of this century. He was a 
member of the Springfield Bar from 1824 to 1862. He was 
elected three times to the State Legislature, and served in the 
position of Speaker of that body, an office that he administered 
with much ability and dignity. He also served in the Senate. He 
was widely known as a campaign speaker, and had many invita- 
tions to address the people on the questions of the day. He held 
the office of United States Attorney for Ohio from 1841 to 1845. 
General Anthony was a noted Mason, and was elected Grand 
Master of the State. He was a man of integrity and force of 
character, and was popular w itli all classes. He dieil in 1862. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 163 

Police Court fines. In order to increase the usefulness of the 
library and secure the purchase of more books, in 1892 the Clark 
County Bar Association was incorporated and shares of stock of 
fifty dollars each were issued. In these various ways, and from 
time to time, funds were secured, with which the excellent library 
now in the Court House was procured. A complete set of the 
reports of all the important States of the Union are now on its 
shelves, together with modern digests and encyclopedias. A 
subscription has just been made for the English Reports. W. F. 
Bevitt and Charlotte Cross have been the accommodating libra- 
rian and assistant librarian for some time. The present trustees 
are: Judge J. K. Mower, Judge A.. N. Summers, Judge F. M. 
Hagan, Oscar T. IMartin, J. E. Bowman, J. F. McGrew and 
W. W. Keifer. 

The following is given by our Court Docket as a list of the 
present practicing members of our bar: Edwin L. Arthur. 
George Arthur, John C. Bassett, Jr., George A. Beard, Carey 
Boggess, Border Bowman, E. O. Bowman, J. E. Bowman, 
Charles E. Ballard, M. T. Burnham, A. P. Linn Cochran, A. P. 
Linn Cochran, Jr., Clement V. Collins, George S. Dial, D. Z. 
Gardner, Frank W. Geiger, Alden H. Gillett, William H. Grif- 
fith, Edward O. Hagan, Francis jNI. Hagan, Dallas V. Halver- 
stadt, Jacob M. Harner, Patrick J. Higgins, William R. Horner, 
Edwin S. Houck, James Johnson, Jr., Horace C. Keifer, J. War- 
ren Keifer, William W. Keifer, J. Forest Kitchen, Frank M. 
Krapp, Albert H. Kunkle, Julius F. W. Lorenz, Thomas J. Mc- 
Cormick, J. F. McGrew, John B. McGrew, William Y. Mahar. 
Oscar T. Martin, Paul C. Martin, Harvey L. Miller, J. J. Miller, 
Oliver H. ^liller, Carl K. Mower, J. K. Mower, C. S. Olinger, 
• Charles R. Osborn, John L. Plummer, Thomas J. Pringle, B. H. 
Rannels, George C. Rawlins. D. F. Reinoehl, Walter E. Robin- 
son, William M. Rockel, Robert C. Rodgers, William A. Scott, 
V. Y. Smith, Horace W^ Stafford, C. W. Strawther, Paul A. 
Staley, Chase Stewart, E. Earle Stewart, Harry F. Summers, 
Stewart L. Tatum, H. A. Toulmin, O. B. Trout, W^^lter L. 
W^eaver. J. Jerome \\'elty, W. W. Witmeyer, Amos ^^'olf, L. F. 
Young and John L, Zimmerman. 

There have been few "Criah Heeps" and "Oily Gammons" 



164 CENTENNIAL OF 

at onr bar. It can be trutbfully said that there is no class of per- 
sons in the community that stand higher than the members of 
the bar. In the last one hundred years but one member was dis- 
barred from practice. Generally, in all matters that pertain to 
the welfare of our citv and county, they are found ever contend- 
ing for that which will bring prosperity and honor to our city 
and its people. If the next hundred years can show as bright a 
history as the past one hundred, the Bar of the City of Springfield 
can indeed well be proud of its record. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



165 




t>ld Court House. Erected 181!>-22. 



16(5 



CENTENNIAL, OF 








'^m 




New Court House. Erected 1878-81. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 167 




HENRY H. SEYS, M. D. 



HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF CLARK 

COUNTY. 



BY HENRY H. SEYS, M. D. 



The fact that there is Httle in the profession of medicine 
that becomes matter of record, so far as its members are con- 
cerned, has made it no easy task to get the names and still more 
difficult to learn any facts of the history of the early doctors of 
our county. 

They came and settled in this field of labor ; led lives of 
hardship, exposure and toil, anxiety and responsibility, had their 
friends and enemies, sought other scenes or died, and were soon 
forgotten. 

Their names are but traditions that linger in the memories 
of those who are soon to leave us forever. Only now and then 
can be found a descendant who can tell us some little of those 
good men, who so well filled their places in the community. No 
records have been left of them, save the most meager, and in 
many cases their names can only be found on some moss-covered 
stone on which scant proof beside "some letters tell that they have 
lived and died." 



168 CENTENNIAL OF 

It is not the ol)ject of this paper to deal with the Hving or 
those who, though dead, are not to he classed as pioneers. To 
Dr. Isaac Kay and Dr. John H. Rodgers I am indebted for very 
much of the material at mv disposal. In April, 1816, a Medical 
Society existed in Dayton. How far its jurisdiction extended, I 
do not know, but the records show that on that date, by virtue of 
authority derived from the State, they licensed four men who. 
for many years, were well-known physicians, and two of whom 
became citizens of Springfield, Drs. Isaac Hendershott and W. A. 
Needham. The others were Dr. Joshua Martin, of Xenia, and 
Dr. Carter, of Urbana. 

It might be well to state here that in those days not many of 
the practitioners of medicine w^re graduates of medical colleges. 
The lack of means, the distance and difificulty of travel, com- 
pelled many to forego the advantages thus to be obtained, and 
perforce they were content to learn what they might from their 
preceptors and obtain a license from the Board of Censors of 
some Medical Society. This was the course ordained by the 
laws of this State at that time, and consequently, the "Board of 
Censors" of each Medical Society became an important factor in 
the medical history of each district. 

It is impossible to separate the medical history of Clark 
County or Springfield from that of the surrounding counties, 
from the fact that in 1824 the Ohio General Assembly divided 
the State into twenty districts for Medical Societies, Montgom- 
ery and Clark Counties being joined together, forming the Sev- 
enth District. 

Drs. John Steel, Job Haines, William Blodget, W. A. Need- 
ham, Richard W. Hunt, Elijah Laurence and Ambrose lUount 
organized the Medical Society for this district. Drs. Richard 
Hunt and Ambrose Blount were chosen members of the P.oard 
of Censors. 

The society met semi-annually in Dayton, Fairfield and 
Springfield. At a meeting held in Dayton, A^'ay, 1828, the fol- 
lowing ofificers were elected : President, William Blodget ; Lot 
Cooper, Vice President; William Mount, Secretary and Treas- 
urer; A. Blount, E. Laurence, H. Alexander, W. A. Needham 
and R. E. Stevens, Censors. The membership was twenty-e:ght. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. ■ 169 

Of them, only Dr. Blount, Dr. Hunt, Dr. Xcedhani, Dr. Towler 
and Dr. Job Haines were, so far as I can learn, citizens of 
Springfield, and Dr. E. Laurence and Robert Houston of the 
county. 

Others came, some to find here a home for a shorter or 
longer period, among them a Dr. Nourse. Of him I can get no 
record, save that he lived here about a year, then entered the 
navy and died in the service. 

Of those whose names have been mentioned but little can be 
said. Dr. Richard H. Hunt was born in Greenwich, Cumberland 
County, New Jersey, in 1780. Came west while young, settled in 
Cincinnati, and moved to Springfiekl in 1809. He married Miss 
Frances Reeder, then living near the McClure farm on the Old 
Yellow Springs road, some three miles south of Springfield. The 
date of his death I have not learned. One daughter, Miss Sophia 
Hunt, is still living in our city. 

Dr. Job Haines, also from New Jersey, was born in 1791. 
graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 
181 5. Stopped for a short time in Cincinnati, moved to Spring- 
field, formed a partnership with Dr. Hunt, moved to Dayton in 
181 7. and died there in i860, aged 69 years. 

Dr. W. A. Needham, who, though dead this many a year, still 
lives in the memory of some of our oldest ctizens. He was born 
in Shoreham. Vermont. 1776. There is no knowledge of when 
or where he studied medicine. He served as surgeon in the Ver- 
mont militia, his commission being still in the family. Came to 
Springfield in the fall of 181 3, first living near Lagonda. which, 
because of him. was called "rillville." He afterward lived in a 
cabin in the southwest corner of Columbia and Factory streets 
until 1 81 7, when he moved into his own new frame house on the 
southwest corner of Main street and the first alley east of Lime- 
stone street. This building was recently torn down by Elder & 
Tuttle, when they built the addition to their store room. In this 
house he died, August 13. 1834, of some epidemic disease, after 
an illness of only four days. He had three daughters. The old- 
est. Amelia, married Jonah Baldwin ; the next. Alice, married 
Cyrus Ward and lived in Urbana ; the youngest, Minerva, mar- 
ried Samson Mason. Dr. Needham was buried in the old Colum- 
bia Street Cemetery. 



170 CENTENNIAL OF 

Of Dr. Hendcrshott no record can be obtained. He was a 
member of the Clark County Medical Society when Dr. Kay and 
the speaker joined it in 1853. I find no record of his death, 
which I believe occurred not far from 1856. One daughter died 
in the frame house on East ]Main street, east of Spring street, 
about 1855. One son was in the army. Of him I have no 
history. 

Dr. Towler, I believe, was at one time a citizen of Spring- 
field. No other information of him can be obtained. 

This ends the history of those older men of medicine, and 
another generation fills the stage. 

Dr. Robert Rodgers, whom to know was to love and re- 
spect, was a man whose influence on the community was wholly 
for good, and whose memory will ever be held in honor by those 
who knew him, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 
in 1807, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He studied medicine at Ship- 
penburg, Pennsylvania, graduated at Medical Department of the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1828; came to Springfield, July 4. 
1833, and practiced here until his death in i88r. His descendants 
are still with us — they need no introduction to this audience. 

Contemporaneous with Dr. Rodgers was Dr. Benjamin 
Winwood. Born in England, he came to this country in 1804. 
graduated in Baltimore, Maryland, in 182 1 ; came to Springfield 
in 1832. He died in the Government service in Nashville, Tehn., 
in 1866. 

The Gillett Brothers also were noted men in the profession 
of those days. The younger brother, Harvey, did not devote 
himself entirely to medicine, living on his farm, east and south 
of the city. Berkley, the older brother, Avas bom in Vermont, 
November 10, 1791 ; moved to Springfield, Ohio, from New- 
York State in 1834. He was a man of strong personality and 
large, progressive ideas, and was well and favorably known by 
a large constituency throughout the county. He was identified 
with many of Springfield's early and best interests, being among 
the first projectors of the school afterward known as the "Meth- 
odist High School." He ranked with the first of his profession, 
and died October 9, 1855. Dr. Berkley Gillett was an import- 
ant member of the profession in those days. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 171 

With Dr. Rodgers begins the history and records of his 
profession in this county. On the eve of March i, 1838, a meet- 
ing was held in his office and the initial steps taken to form the 
Clark County Medical Society. On the 4th of April the organ- 
ization was effected. The meeting was held in the Buckeye 
Hotel, on East Main street. Dr. Isaac Hendershott, President; 
Dr. Smith, Vice President; Robert Rodgers, Secretary; M. ]\Iur- 
dock, Treasurer; Censors, Berkley Gillett, E. W. Steel, Robert 
Rodgers. There is no record of those present. The names of 
Towler, Happersett, Steel, Winwood, Garst and Houston are 
found on the minutes. To the constitution are signed the names 
of Isaac Hendershott, Benjamin Winwood, Berkley Gillett. 
Elias Garst, Robert Houston. William Murdoch, Robert Rodgers. 
Michael Garst and James Robbins. 

I shall not weary you with a longer history of this organ- 
ization. It had its seasons of prosperity and of decadence. New 
names are found on its roll and others disappear. In 1839 the 
society died of malnutrition, to be reborn May 31, 1850. 

The officers elected were : President, Robert Rodgers ; First 
Vice President, Berkley Gillett; Second Vice President. Isaac 
Hendershott ; Secretary, E. M. Buckingham ; Treasurer, George 
Bunyan; Censors, Gillett, Cook, Stockstill, Bunyan and Robert 
Rodgers. 

The Society is still in active operation, and of no little ben- 
efit to its members and perhaps to the community. 

Of other branches of the profession I find nothing of cer- 
tainty. Dr. Starr and Dr. Saul were the first Homeopaths, I be- 
lieve, to settle in Springfield, Ohio. I can leani nothing of the 
date. They were followed by others, who are modern and cannot 
be classed as pioneers. 

Of the Botanic, Thompsonian, and Eclectic Schools I can 
obtain no record. 

Of all the men who have settled in our county, none obtained 
so great celebrity as Dr. Alexander Dunlap. He settled here, I 
believe, about 1856. At that time abdominal surgery was prac- 
tically unknown — ascepsis unthought of; a few bold spirits be- 
lieved that ovarian tumors might be successfully removed. By 
many of the profession in these earlier days the operation was 



172 CENTENNIAL OF 

considered little less criminal than nuirder. Dr. Dunlap was one 
of the first to endorse the procedure and become known world- 
wide by reason of a fair share of success, in this, then, almost 
unknown and little practiced attempt, to relieve suffering human- 
ity and prolong life. 

The advance that has been made in operative surgery by 
reason of Lister's Great Discovery has rendered possible and 
eminently successful that which, in the day of Dr. Dunlap, was 
most hazardous and hardly considered justifiable. His name 
should be honored for his courage. 

No other name among the physicians of our county or city 
stand out so boldly in the history of surgery. 

One other name I must not fail to do honor to — that of 13 r. 
£. M. Buckingham, who, for more than thirty years held a most 
prominent position in our city as a physician and gentleman. All 
who knew him deplored his death. Dr. Buckingham was a son 
of Milton and Belinda Cooley Buckingham. He was born in 
Athens County, Ohio, m 1824. Graduated from Kenyon College 
in 1845 ; T^Q3.d medicine in this city with Dr. Robert Rodgers, and 
began the practice of medicine here in 1849, during the cholera 
epidemic of that year. In 1849 ^"d 1850 he attended lectures at 
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he graduated. His 
whole professional life was spent here. 

Valuable aid was rendered by him as volunteer surgeon dur- 
ing the War of the Rebellion. 

Dr. Buckingham was of the finest type as physician and 
Christian gentleman, and his death was sorely felt by those to 
whom he was endeared by long years of association both in and 
out of the profession. 

Andrew C. McLaughlin should not be forgotten. JJorn. I be- 
lieve, in Clark County. An old doctor of the William McClure 
type. The soul of honor, richly endowed by nature, with limited 
opportunity to obtain an education, yet he became a power in his 
day and generation. So pure was his diction, and because of his 
ponderous weight, among his intimate professional brethren he 
was known as ''Webster Unabridged." A gentleman beloved and 
appreciated by those who knew him. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 173 

Andrew r)riice, Georg'c lUinyan and otiiers were men of 
those early years, during the forties, I think. 

There were many, I doubt not, among those who, in the long- 
ago, practiced medicine in our community, whose names should 
be mentioned with honor. But of them I find no record. They 
are remembered by few living. 

Well am I aware of the imperfections of this sketch of the 
medical profession of our county, yet with the material at hand 
and the time that could be devoted to this history of the men of 
the past, no better could be done. 

It had been my purpose to end my paper at this point, but the 
suggestion of General Keifer, our chairman for the day, leads me 
to add a few words upon the changes that have taken place in the 
profession of medicine since the days of long ago. It would be, I 
fear, tedious to my audience to mention the advance in knowledge 
made during the last hundred years. Let it suffice to call your 
attention to some of the progress that has been made in the latter 
half of that period : 

In 1850 we had practically no instruments of precision. The 
microscope, with its wonderful disclosures, was incomplete and 
possessed by few. Ausculation and percussion were just beg-in- 
ning to be appreciated. 

The theor}' and practice of ascepis had not yet entered the 
mind of man. Bacteriology was only known to be sneered at, and 
although we talked learnedly about infectious diseases and of a 
contagium riviim, our words but covered our ignorance. The 
cause of not one contagious disease w^as known, perhaps not sus- 
pected. Pathology as now understood was not taught. Disease 
was largely considered an entity, and its treatment wholly em- 
pirical. Abdominal surgery was still in the womb of time. Ova- 
riotomy was believed by many of the wisest in the profession to be 
only a little less criminal than nuirder. The terrors of an inflamed 
appendix were not recognized or known as a potent factor in the 
death rate. Sanitary science was practically unknown, and 
plagues and pestilence were deemed visitations of the wrath of an 
ofifended Deity, to be combatted by prayer and fasting. 

The clinical thermometer, with all it tells us, was unthought 
of, and tlie invalual)le hy]:)oderniic syringe yet unknown. The 



174 CENTENNIAL OF 

priceless boon of anesthetics was just fairly becoming of general 
use. The X-ray was undreamed of. Crude ideas and cruder med- 
icines were all we possessed, and I can remember but two alka- 
loids in- use, quinine and morphine. 

Did I not fear to weary you, many — very many — more items 
of progress might be mentioned. No longer are we under the 
domain of any man or school. No man's dictum is taken, unless 
the evidence is at hand with which to prove the truth of his asser- 
tions, and facts are considered of far more importance than theory. 
To quote the ideas of Dr. Charles Reid, late President of the 
American Medical Association, a new school of medicine is soon 
to be born. Not Allopathy, nor Homeopathy, nor Eclecticism, nor 
Osteopathy, nor Christian Science, nor any other pathy or ism, 
but a school founded on the researches of the laboratory and dis- 
secting room, on the discoveries made by the microscopist and 
chemist — the prevention, not tne attempted cure of disease ; a 
school that shall secure to every man pure air, pure soil, and pure 
water. When that day comes, the doctors will vanish from the 
face of the earth, and the millennium will begin. 



In the afternoon the pioneers held their meeting. Mr. W. M. 
Harris, Secretary of the Clark County Historical Society, presided 
and read the following paper : 




W. M. HAlUtl 



This has been advertised as Pioneer Day, but as there is a 
difference of opinion about there being any pioneers living, yet, 
since some of us are early settlers and some of us are native born 
here, we will just call ourselves pioneers. If there is any honor 



SPRINGFIELn, OHIO. 175 

in the name, we will appropriate it to ourselves and let the fellow 
that is dead kick about it if he wants to. We, the old people that 
are living, are the connecting link between the old pioneers and 
the younger gel^erations that come after us. We are here today to 
tell what we know about early days. 

The pioneer left us very little written history. What we get 
is mostly what has been handed down by word of mouth from one 
generation to another, something like in Bible times, when they 
had no books. There has been more real history of Clark County 
gathered together and written in the last three or lOur years than 
for fifty years before that time. You ask, is that so, and why is it 
so? This has been brought about by the organization of the 
Clark County Historical Society, which was organized in the fall 
of 1897. I quote here a few lines from the circular written by 
Professor B. F. Prince, President of the Society : 

At that time it (Clark County Historical Society) declared 
its purpose to be "the collection and preservation of information 
relating to the history of Clark County and the State of Oliio. 
and the securing of relics illustrating life among the pioneers, se- 
curing collections of art and articles of historical value, with such 
books, papers and documents as may relate thereto. It included, 
also, such history and mementoes of the Civil War as might Ijc 
found in possession of the old soldiers now residing in our midst, 
and which, if gathered together, would not only be objects of in- 
terest, but would become a valuable source of education in patri- 
otism to the generations that are to follow." 

The society has kept its purpose steadily in view, and now, if 
you should visit the rooms, 34 Bushnell Building, you will say : 
"Wonderful! How did you collect so much in so short a time?" 
I will not stop to give the names of the many citizens who have 
assisted in making this historical collection, and now, before I go 
any further, allow me to urge all to become members and help the 
good work along. One thing more before I go further : this coun- 
try owes much to the old soldier of the Civil \\'ar, and this is 
another feather in his cap. It was the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic that called the first meeting for the purpose of organizing the 
Historical Society. 

Now, what do I know about earlv davs? I will l)e as brief as 



176 CENTENNIAL OF 

I can. There are older gentlemen present than I, and some who 
can go farther back in pioneer history than I can. 

I was born in this city in 1832, and my earliest recollection is 
that my father, William M. Harris, was running a sawmill about 
four miles south of Springfield, on Mill Creek, about a half-mile 
west of where Emory Church now stands. The family lived in a 
log house that stood on the hill about half-way between the church 
and sawmill. My recollection about that old mill is that its style 
was most primitive, the machinery was very crudely made, the 
saw frame had direct connection by pitman to the flutter wheel ; 
the motion was so slow that the sawyer could eat his dinner while 
the saw would cut through a sixteen-foot log ; after a cut had been 
made, the log had to be worked back by foot power, the sawyer 
walking on the large ratchet wheel with wooden pins to step on. 
That mill was torn down and a new one built in its place with a 
large over-shot wheel, which in turn rotted down and disap- 
peared many years ago ; even the stream that furnished the power 
is almost dried up. The land for several miles up the stream was 
boggy and spring}-, and used to furnish water the year round, but 
it has been ditched and dried up until now there is hardly enough 
water to run a grindstone. 

In January, 1839, my father died. I went to live with my 
grandfather, Adam Mayne, who came to this county from George- 
town, D. C, in 1825, and during the thirties kept a tavern on the 
old stage road running from Cincinnati to Springfield. This tav- 
ern, called "Travelers' Rest," by A. Mayne, four and one-half 
miles from Springfield, was run until the pike was built from Cin- 
cinnati via Dayton to Springfield, when the stage coaches and 
travel mostly left the mud road. Did I say "mud road?"' Well, 
that word hardly fills the bill, for much of the year it was more 
like a river of mud without any bottom, even after the corduroy 
roads were built. They were too narrow for two teams to pass in 
opposite directions, and woe to the team or teamster that had to 
turn out into the ditch. It was never done without a great, big 
kick, and sometimes blows ; and when the stage coach with the 
United States mail came along, the other fellow had to give the 
road. When the stage driver would meet any other team, he 
would call out : "United States mail ! Turn out !" And turn out 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 177 

he (lid. without a second invitation, for any person delaying the 
United States mail was liahle to arrest. Neil & Vorhees was the 
name of the old stage line, and they had their troubles with these 
new mud roads, for they drove all night, no matter how dark or 
how hard it stormed. I saw one stage lying on its side near Mill 
Creek, another astride a stump with the tongue broken, near where 
Ik'attytown now is. 

This tavern I spoke of was not only for people who 
had their own conveyance, but the passengers on the stage 
coach often took their meals there, and the stage company kept a 
few extra horses in the barn. There was scarcely a day that some 
of the horses were not disabled. Xo doubt some of the young 
people wonder how the women did the work those days, and how 
thev did the cooking without stoves. Well, they did it. and did it 
well. The bread and pies were mostly baked in a large brick oven 
out of doors. I have often gone out to hunt for soaie old. dry and 
!)roken fence rails to make bake-oven wood. Then the old kitchen 
fireplace would take in four-foot wood, and the large crane would 
hold quite a number of kettles at once. They had the large tin 
reflector, the large waffle irons, with handles nearly four feet long, 
and, last but not least, the Dutch oven. But the people had to be 
careful and not let the fire go out, for that was before the day of 
matches. I recollect when the neighbors came to our house to bor- 
row fire. T don't think they ever returned it. 

There was a boy, a near neighbor of ours, and about my age, 
and he and I were nearly always together. This boy was after- 
ward Major Philip Kershner. of the Sixteenth Ohio Regiment. 
The militia used to muster on Jacob Kershner's (Philip's father's) 
farm. That was what they called little muster. \\'illiam Kershner 
was the caj^ain. He was afterw^ard brigadier general of the Clark 
County militia. ( )nce a year all the militia in the county had 
to turn out ; that was called the general, or big. muster. My uncle. 
Benjamin F. ^layne. was an officer on the staft' of the brigadier 
general. At the little mu>^ter the people ate dinner in Kershner's 
barn. Some of the men took so much of something to keep them 
cool that thev got hot for a fight, and the\- had the fight in the 
barn. 

About 1838 I went witli I'hilip out to the harvest field to see 



178 CENTENNIAL OF 

the men reap. There were alxiut twenty-five men cutting' grain 
with sickles. Phihp took me to the shady side of a shock of wheat. 
He put his hand hetvveen the sheaves and took something out. T 
said: ."What is that?" He said: "That is whisky." I said: 
"What is it for?" "To drink," said he. "What do they drink it 
for?" I asked. He said: "To keep the men cool; they could not 
harvest without whisky to keep them cool." I thought that was 
all right. He and I hoth tasted it. 1 thought it was real good, but 
that is not all the story. That winter my father died, and as I said. 
I went to live with my mother's people. Early in the spring my 
uncle, Benjamin Mayne, was sowing oats broadcast, and the 
neighbor's chickens would pick them up before they could be har- 
rowed under, so my uncle came to the house for me to keep the 
chickens out : but in a few hours the sun got very hot and I 
started home. M}- uncle saw me going, and called : "Hey, there ! 
Where are you going?" T said : "Going home." He said : "\\'hat 
are you going home for?" "Oh, it's too hot out here." Uncle 
laughed and said: "What will vou do when harvest comes?" 
"Oh," I said, "we will have whisky then." ]\Iv uncle, while he 
lived, took great pleasure in telling that story. 

I recollect when the farmers went to wash their sheep in the 
river, thev took something to keep themselves from getting cold, 
and I could never tell the difference between what they drank to 
keep themselves cool when it was hot, and what they drank to keep 
themselves warm when it was cold. It looked alike and tasted 
alike, but I very soon learned that neither of them was good for 
the purpose it was used. 

This road bv the tavern was a great thoroughfare for tlriving 
fat hogs to market from the northern part of the State to Cincin- 
nati. It made a good home market for corn, for the farmers that 
lived on the road. Our people sold nearly all their corn to tlie 
drovers. Not only hogs, but some of the early settlers tell of large 
droves of turkeys that were driven through to Cincinnati. 

I think I could give the names from memory of nearly all the 
people who lived on or near the road froiu S])ringfieUl to Yellow 
Springs — that is, from 1836 to 1850; but will only mention a few 
of them in addition to those alreadv sooken of. In the first farm 
house south of town lived William Huntington; aliout three miles 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 179 

out lived an old Revolutionary soldier, who was known by every- 
body as Grand-daddy Lane. About three and one-half miles out 
was I\lr. Reif. He was an all-'round mechanic ; he made nearly 
all the strain cradles used in that i)art of the country ; that is, after 
grain cradles came into fashion. I have already spoken of Jacob 
Kershncr. He was a soldier of the War of 1812. In early days 
he ran a blacksmith shop, just a short distance north of where 
Emory Church now stands. That was in the days when only char- 
coal was used : no other kind could be had in this ])art of the 
countrv. In the thirties a log schoolhouse stood in almost the 
same place where Emory Church now stands. It was in the midst 
of a thick wood ; it had two doors, one on each side ; a laro^e 
fireplace at each end. and a puncheon floor. Reuben ^filler, for- 
merly of this city, taught school there, also Immanuel Mayne, the 
oldest son of Adam Mayne, taught school there. Near by, a little 
southeast, stood a log house in which lived "Granny" Layman, the 
widow of a Revolutionary soldier. Six miles out there was an- 
other taveni and stage house, kept by Moses Mills, the father of 
Jacob Mills, of this city. 

Of one thing more I wish to speak ; that is, how the people 
went to mill, market, and meeting. To church, if not too far away, 
thev walked : if it was three to five miles, they went on horse- 
back, sometimes the wife sitting on the horse behind the husband, 
carrving the baby in her arms. Later on the farmer would take 
his whole family to church in the farm wagon. To market, they 
went mostly on horseback, carrying the basket of butter and eggs 
on the ami. Later they used the farm wagon for that, too. 

Many times I went to the mill with corn in a bag, half in each 
end of the sack — that is, if it hai)i)ened to be divided just right, 
but sometimes there would be about five pecks in one end of the 
sack and three pecks in the other ; then the bag would sli]) off, and 
I would have to ride a long way to get some one to lift it on again. 

]\Iy grandfather owned and used the only light vehicle in our 
neighborhood for many years. It was called a carryall. It had 
wooden springs, not leather thoroughbraces like the stage coach 
or the large family carriages used in the city in those days. My 
uncle. Gideon Mayne, had the first buggy with steel springs in our 
neighborhood. That was about the year of 1844. It had a s(|uare 



180 CENTENNIAL OF 

panel bodv and no top. There is an old gentleman here in this 
city who liorrowed that huggv in 1845 to go to a wedding'. 

Otliers who spoke were O. S. Kelly, J. C. Williams, of Xew 
Carlisle ; Perry Stewart, Mrs. George H. Frankenberg, H. W. 
Hufifman and John H. Blose, of Tremont, wdio devoted his time to 
giving reminiscences of German Township. Airs. Frankenberg 
spoke as follows : 




MKS. GEOKGE H. fc'KANKENBERG. 



T did not know Springfield one hundred years ago ; Imt it was 
a village only twenty-four years old when I was born here seventy- 
seven years ago. Mv parents came here in 1812. My father 
bought land which lay between the Burnett farm and Alain street, 
and bounded on the east by Burnett lane, on the west by the Brain 
land. With his Yankee thrift he turned this wild land into one of 
the most beautiful farms in this county. He soon became able to 
build a nice house on the farm, and good barns. The house is 
still standing, owned and occupied by Miss Houston. In this same 
house I was born seventy-seven years ago. There 1 was reared 
and there married fifty-six years ago, never having any other 
home until my wedding day. Our large barn stood just where 
Oakland Chapel now stands, on East High street. Some years 
later my father owned the land now Greenmount Cemetery ; also 
the lot west, now belonging to Mr. Crowell. After my father's 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 181 

death this land was sold hy in\ brothers, a part for the eemetery. 
How short-sighted that they could not see the prices of land now! 

I do not remember that the streets were named in those early 
days, for Hig-h street was known as the Chillicothe road and be- 
fore the turnpike (National road) was made, the old Columbus 
road turned into this High street some place about Burnett's' lane, 
but ^Nlain street was oftener spoken of as "the Columbus road." 
Columbia street was called "the lower road," Limestone "the Cr- 
bana road." Travel was then on horseback, in wagons, and the 
old stage coaches were among the finest things — in our opinion. 
And how these red and yellow painted coaches did get their beauty 
marred by dragging through the mud roads ! I can remember 
seeing the stage coaches stuck in the mud so deep that the passen- 
gers were obliged to get otit and. with rails, assist in prying the 
coach otit of the mttd. And this on what is now our fine East 
High street. Little did any one think then that they should live to 
see the electric cars running at almost lightning speed over this 
same road ; and yet. here we are — a few old pioneers — i)roud to 
tell the tale, and wondering what Springfield will l)e in another 
hundred years. 

Our merchants often went on horseback to Philadelphia to' 
purchase their goods. ]Mr. Spinning, Mr. Cavileer and ^[r. ^^'al- 
lace were dry goods merchants here as far back as 1(826, and in 
the thirties they made trips on horseback to lay in their stock ; and 
these goods were brought here in large covered wagons, draw'n by 
six horses, with liells resting in a bow shape over the horses" necks. 
These were called "bell teams." .\bout the time new goods were 
expected we listened for the bells and said: "Xow I hope I can 
get a pretty new- dress." The country folks w^ould begin to count 
how' far their butter and eggs would go toward a new frock. 
There w^ere no grocery stores (every sort of merchandise was in 
each store), nor shoe stores, and the "milliner shop" was the jilace 
to have the old leghorn bonnets bleached and pressed over to look- 
like the new ones in the dry goods store — those new tuscan and 
gimp bonnets. Mrs. W^atson (mother of our Mrs. Teegarden) 
was our most famous millinfM\ and could make a l)eautiful silk 
calash — a kind of bonnet then in fashion. 1 wish some of these 
young f(^lks could see a calash. .V few of the girls here of my age 



182 CENTENNIAL OF 

remember the calash of seventy years ago. And I see here 
some of the girls and boys who were my schoolmates seventy years 
ago, and they, too, remember the little old frame schoolhouse on 
East High street a little east of Governor Bushnell's present resi- 
dence. That was then in the country. How we trudged through 
the mud in our coarse shoes, or sometimes barefoot, if the shoe- 
maker could not get our shoes finished. Say, old boys, don't you 
remember the love letters you used to write? These letters always 
ended : 

The rose is red, the violet's blue. 

Sugar's sweet, and so are you. 

Sometimes the girl's answer would be : 

Grass is green, and so are you ; 
Vinegar sour, and so are you. 

As we advanced and were able to write letters in the most 
approved style, we began: "I take my pen in hand to inforni you 
that I am well, and trust these few lines will find you enjoying 
God's same blessing.'' These boys were the Stewarts, the Rices, 
Neil Baker, and the Huffmans, and Mr. William Barnett, who 
remember those days. 

School books were not exchanged for new editions as often 
as now. You see, books cost more then. I was the youngest in 
my father's family of fourteen children, and I used the same old 
British Reader handed on down from my eldest brother. With 
what dramatic force we read : 

"Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, 

Whose trembling limbs have borne him to vour door ; 
Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span ; 

Oh, give relief, and heaven will bless your store." 

And another, in which aou old bovs showed off — "I am mon- 
arch of all I survey." 

Another schoolhouse oi which T must make mention was also 
an old frame, and stood where Mr. Charles Ludlow now resides, 
on the corner of East High and Foster streets. Here a girls' 
school was taught by Miss Strong, sister of Mrs. Judge Clark. 
All the building^s in that neiefhborhood were small. Mr. David 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 1&3 

Coinpton lived in a small house opposite the schoolhoase. Mrs. 
Coniptom raised a tomato vine for ornament in her front yard. We 
school g'irls used to stand by the fence and admire the small red 
tomatoes. iMually Mrs. Compton g-ave me one, with the injunc- 
tion : "Don't eat it, for it is poison." These were the first tomatoes 
raised in Sprino^field. and Mrs. Compton called them "Jerusalem 
apples." The first postoffice I remember was in the Rodg'ers home, 
corner of Limestone and North streets. ]Mr. Mattox Fisher was 
postmaster. He built that house. I remember he always spelled 
my father's name "Allover" (Oliver) Armstroni;-. We knew 
nothing of envelopes then, and the letters were sealed with sealing 
wax and wafers. Matches had not been invented. It was no un- 
common thing to go to a neighbor's to l)orrow a firebrand to kindle 
in case the back-log had burned out. Tallow candles were the 
only lights used in Springfield seventv-five or eighty years ago. 
The old graveyard on West Columbia street was our only park. 
We were Sabbath-keeping people then, and if Sunday walks were 
indulged in, it was considered most proper to walk to the grave- 
yard. But we had little need of improved parks, for this beautiful 
Springfield was laid out in one of nature's loveliest parks — springs, 
rocks, cliffs, water-falls, wild flowers at almost everv turn. 



184 CENTENNIAL OF 

VI 
MILITARY DAY. 



\\'e(lnes(la\-, .\ii_oust 7. was Military Day, and was especially 
noted for the fine parade, for the large number of people in at- 
tendance, and because of the presence of Hon. (jeorge K. Nash. 
Governor of the State and candidate for a second term ; of Colonel 
James Kilbourne, Democratic candidate for the same office, and 
Attorney-General Sheets. In addition to the carriages carrying 
the distinguished visitors, speaker of the day, members of the 
various committees and others, Mitchell Post, and John lirown 
Post, of the Grand Army of the Republic, the H. H. Stevens Com- 
pany of Union Veterans' Union ; Colored Spanish War Veterans, 
Keifer Guards, Sons of Veterans, and five com])anies of the Ohio 
National Guard, with bands and drum corps, made up the proces- 
sion, which was under the direction of Colonel David King, as- 
sisted by a large number of aides. General J. Warren Keifer was 
both chairman and speaker of the day. h^or more than an hour he 
held the undivided attention of the audience with his paper on 
"Campfires and Military Maneuvers." He then in turn introduced 
Governor Nash, Colonel Kilbourne, and Governor Asa S. liush- 
nell, whose impromptu addresses were well received and the 
speakers given generous applaus^e. 

On Wednesday afternoon a campfire was held, at which 
Dr. George H. Fullerton presided. Among those who spoke were 
Governor ?Nash.C(donel Kilbourne. William Moores, Captain Jolm 
Foster, Captain A. McConkey, ])r. H. H. Seys and E. T. Ride- 
nour. The veterans lived over the war again, and as incident after 
iu'-ident was related the heart of each was moved with enthusiasm 
that l:)urned as in days long since passed. The time was all too 
short for all who wished to speak, and an adjourned meeting was 
held to give them the opportunity. 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 185 




GENERAr. .1. AVARREN KEIfER. 



MILITARY HISTORY 



Of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio, Covering the Nineteenth Century. 
Read August 7, J 90 J, at the First Centennial of Springfield, Ohio, 



BY GENERAL J. WARREN KEIFER.* 



(In this paper Clark County will be referred to as though it had an organized 
existence from the earliest times, although its territory was a part of Hamilton County 
prior to 1800; then of Greene until 180.t: then of Champaign until isIT, when it was 
organized. ) 

Mx Friends ami Xcii^hbors : 

The duty of summarizing- tlic military liistory of Clark 
County has led me to study the annals of her |)eoi)le — a people 
springins^. orig-inallv. from all natinnalilies and ton^-nes, with 
varied raee characteristies. hut. who, in time, hecame so composite, 
in hlood and character, as to he ahle, if occasion required, to deny 
any national or race orio^in, or to hoast that the hlood of all nation- 
alities run in the veins of its citizens. 



[•The author of this paper was a soldier in the Civil and Spanish Wars. He en- 
listed as a private in AprO, istjl : became Major of the Third Ohio Infantry the same 
month; T.icutenant-ColOTiel of the same regiment February 12, 18t)2; Colonel 110th 
Ohio Infantry, September ao, 18<)2; Brevet Brigadier-( General of Volunteers (1864,) and 
Brevet Major-Creneral of Volunteers (18(5.5) by appointment of the President for gal- 
lantry and distinguished services in Ijattles and campaigns. He was, by the President, 
appointed (1H98) a Major-General of Volunteers, and held high command in Florida, 
Georgia and Cuba during the Spanish Wai-. ) 



186 CENTENNIAL OF 

How impressive is the history of her people They early 
came here with exalted hopes and hio;h ambition ; thev, within the 
limits of their aspirations, succeeded in the main, then passed to 
the great beyond, leaving to us a heritage of example and valor. 
Our blood-kindred and earliest friends were of these. What sad 
reflections might we summon ; but this is not the time nor the 
occasion. The privations, struggles and sutTerings of the early 
settlers were largely forgotten by their descendants, they being al- 
most selfishly willing to enjoy the fruits of what they accom- 
plished for education, civilization and Christianity, without award- 
ing to them full credit. 

But this is not a day for sad reminiscences and serious re- 
flections, but for cheerfulness and hopefulness, for rejoicing — 
even for boasting. 

The task assigned me is an insinring and a pleasant one, be- 
cause of the splendid history Clark County has made in all the 
wars in which our country was engaged in the nineteenth cen- 
tury. Her people, willingly and loyally, resi^onded to all calls 
of danger and duty, and went forth to uj^hold constitutional lil)ert\' 
and the natural rights of man. Her sons fought and died on every 
important campaign and in every great battle in the last one hun- 
dred years in wliich our count r\' was engaged. 

The blood of her sons has crimsoned the soil of, and their 
bones have bleached on, the great battlefields of the Republic. They 
have heroically borne on high the starry flag of Washington, the 
purest and proudest emblem of human liberty, both on land and 
sea ; only lately participating in carrying its protecting folds to 
the relief of endangered and im]:)risoned Christians in far-ofT im- 
perial China's walled capital. Wherever glory in the cause of 
humanity has been won through deeds of valor and liy bloody 
sacrifice, Clark County's soldiers and sailors must justly be 
awarded a share, and so as to this nation's standing in first place 
among the greatest powers of the world. 

This day marks the end of a century in the existence of our 
city, covering the most eventful epoch in the history of the world, 
having reference to the advancement of science and the fine arts, to 
material and moral progress, and wealth ; to the liberation of man 
and the elevation of woman, and the best growth of a ]iurer civil- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 187 

izatiiHi. All these thiiii^s seem, in the providence of Ciod, to have 
required human sacrifice. As a purer atmosphere succeeds violent 
electrical storms, so purer liherty succeeds overthrown oppression. 
In the nineteenth century (substantially the period of Spring- 
field's existence) the map of the world has often changed, and our 
new nation, inspired by liberty for man. has developed in useful- 
ness and taken its place among the controlling powers of the 
earth. That which was protected by law and by public sentiment, 
sometimes claimed to be maintained by Divine sanction— the slave 
trade, since Springfield was settled, became piracy (1820) and the 
whole institution of slavery, u])held by Christian nations through 
the centuries, has passed away, in large part, throughout the civ- 
ilized world. A war for humanity has been declared and success- 
fullv terminated. A list of controlling events is too long for pro- 
duction here. 

What part did the citizens of this city and Clark County have 
in determining these great questions? Small as Clark County is, 
in comparative area and numbers, it has had her soldiers and sail- 
ors ready to rush to battle and sacrifice wherever duty and country 
called in all our Republic's wars. 

Springfield was bom amid savagery, and her earliest settlers 
were in constant danger of the tomahawk and scalping knife. The 
battle at Piqua Indian village, on Mad River (six miles west of 
Springfield, August 8, 1780) drove back the federated Indian 
tribes'for a few miles only, leaving them to roam over this cnm- 
trv for a third of a century lonp^er. 

The early inhabitants of what is now Clark Count}- were, per- 
force, soldier's for the defense of their homes, and were subject 
to be called into temporary service at any time. The region round 
about here was, on account of its healthful ix^rennial springs, rich 
pastures, quantities of fish in the pure waters, wild fruits, berries 
and nuts, abundant deer, bear, turkeys and other wild game neces- 
sar\' to sustain man m a savage state, much coveted b>- the Indian 
tribes, and they fought for it with a desperation seldom witnessed 
in other parts.' It was the ancestral home of more than one fierce 
tribe. At the Piqua Shawnee Indian village, Tecumsch and the 
Prophet, sons of a Shawnee chief, were born. They became the 
most famous of the Indian war chiefs, and they waged war on the 
frontier settlers longer than others of the wild inbes. 



188 CENTENNIAL OF 

Simon Kenton, a spy, guide, scout, hunter, and Indian fighter 
for forty-five years, resided for a time within the present hmits of 
Springfield. 

Within these Hmits have l:)een held councils with Indians to 
settle real or pretended grievances, notably one attended by Te- 
cumseh and other great Indian war chiefs in 1807. 

RK\OLL TIOXAKV A\U TERRITORIAL TIMES. 

There came to what is now Clark County, as to other parts 
of the West, some Revolutionary soldiers, bringing with them 
their patriotism and generally their poverty. Their love of liberty 
was, however, put in practice, and, by example, these veteran sol- 
diers did much to l)uild up peaceful communities. William Baird 
(Harmony Township), Merrifield Vicory and Andrew Pinneo 
(Springfield Township). Abraham Rust ((ierman Township) 
and William Holmes ( Bethel Townshij) ) are of the sol- 
diers of the Revolution who settled, lived and died in Clark- 
County, and who left descendants to honor their names l)y a life 
of usefulness. There were, dou])tless, others of the Revolutionary 
W'ar, Avhose names are unknown to me, who did likewise. 

Some of those who were with General Anthonv Wayne (Mad 
Anthony) in his campaign to the Maumee and in the battle oi 
Fallen Timbers ( 1794) and at the Treaty of Greenville (1795). 
and who were in other Indian expeditions, settled and died in 
Clark County. 

Tn territorial times, and long after the State of Ohio was ail- 
mitted ( 1802 ) into the Union, it was a requirement of law that all 
able-bodied men within certain ages should muster, at least an- 
nually, under officers, generally of their own selection, thus to 
familiarize them with movements in organized bodies and with 
arms in their hands. These musters were gala-days, and were 
not always conducted, in the then wild state of society and free- 
dom of habits, with that regard for yeace and propriety conducive 
to military discipline. As the militia were not generall}' armed. 
save with their own rifles, or, for want of them, with sticks and 
corn-stalks, the training in the manual and use of arms for war 
\\-as little. In time these militia musters fell into disrepute, be- 
came impopular, and were by common consent discontinued, tlien 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 189 

abolished l\v law. Some distinguished citizens had rank in the 
militia as lirigadier-general, notably Samson Mason and Charles 
Anthonw both of whom were distinguished lawyers of Spring- 
field, and each left sons who have served in the United States 
Army in time of war. 

Passing, for want of detailed information, too lightlv over 
the worthy pioneers, who almost constantly acted in the semi- 
capacity of soldiers, being on guard with rifles in hand, whether 
in field, at church, or home, to guard against Indian massacres, 
we go to the history of wars on a large scale. 

We must remark that the annals of our young Republic are 
surpassingly bloody. From Lexington to Appomatox ( 1775- 
1865), almost one year out of five, not counting our constant In- 
dian wars, was, on an average, a year of war. 

WAR OF 1812-1815. 

The War of 1812 became necessary to secure commercial and 
maritime rights denied to this nation by Great Britain. 

The incomplete list of names of soldiers and sailors of Clark 
County of that war is still too long to be here given. Colonel 
John Dougherty. Major James Xeely, Captains John McPherson, 
Arthur Layton, Samuel Hlack, Philip Kizer and Samuel Stewart, 
and Lieutenants William Ward, Nathaniel Williams and Will- 
iam Lamme, of the cavalry and infantry, and Captain IJenjamin 
Hathaway, of the navy, from this county, were in that war : and 
among others who served from Clark County, principally on the 
then extreme Western frontier, fighting the English and their 
savage allies, may be mentioned ( Pleasant Township) Charles 
Botkin, Jonathan and William Curl, A. McConkey, William H. 
Hunter, Joseph Cofifey, Amos Xeer; ( Moorefield Township) 
Horatio Banes, William Hunt, James Foley, John Humphreys, 
Andrew Hodge, Simon Kenton, and Abraham Yeazell ; (Pike 
Township) .Andrew Black", James Black, Obediah Lippcncott, 
James Fuller, Thomas Stafiford ; (German Township) Benjamin 
Frantz, G. (iard, David Kizer (father of Thomas Kizer, long 
County Surveyor of Clark County), Jacob Kiblinger, David 
Jones, Benjamin Morris. John Ross, John Fence, John, Philip, 
and Samuel Paker : ( P.etliel Township) Flnatlian Cory. James 



190 CENTENNIAL OF 

and Jonathan Donnell, John Forgy, Jacob Fross. Wihiam Hust- 
ler, John Hay, Peter Sheets, WilHani Layton, Benjamin P. 
Gaines, Abraham Smith, George Lowman, David Lowry, W. G. 
Serviss, Michael Minnick, William Crawford, John Paul (sup- 
posed to be the first settler of this county), John Wallace, Sr.. 
Hugh Wallace, and Henry Williams ; ( Springfield Township) 
Louis r5ancroft, John Kelly (father of Oliver S. Kelly, a success- 
ful manufacturer, now an honored citizen of Springfield), Samuel 
Lisle, David Hughes, Joseph Keifer (father of J. Warren 
Keifer), William Minach, J. W. Ross (killed at the Battle of 
Thames), Andrew Pinneo (probably the same who served in the 
Revolution), and Nathan Reddish; (Harmony Township) John 
and Peter Baird, Hamilton Busby, William Foreman, John Judy, 
Edward Rice, Nathan Smith, William Osborn and Jacob Olinger, 
( Madison Township ) Conrad Critz, Isaac Davidson, Philip Hed- 
rick, Enoch Jones, John McCollum, and David Vance; (Greene 
Township) (jeorge and Samuel Albin, Jacob Garlough, Thomas 
Mills, John T. Stewart (father of Captain Perry Stewart, of the 
Civil War), O. S. Stewart, George Sroufe, James Todd, Joseph 
Weller, and Benjamin Whiteman ; (Mad River Township) Melyn 
Baker, Samuel Davis, Richard Hughel, Daniel Mead, Daniel Jen- 
kins, and Rule Peterson. 

We have named but few, for as many as five hundred are 
reported to have enlisted in the War of 1812 from Clark County, 
and many more who served honorably in that war, later settled in 
the county and were of its best citizens. Among whom were 
Archibald Mitchell (father of Captain James A. Mitchell, killed in 
the Civil War), the ancestor of distinguished soldiers of later 
wars; also Adam Rockel, Benjamin Wilson, Peter Sager, William 
Donovan (buried at Bethel Church), and Christian ( )verhaltzer. 

MEXICAN WAR, 1846-1848. 

The enlistments from Clark County for the Mexican War— 
a war to acquire territory to devote to slavery — were but few. 
Andrew F., Biddle and Edward Boggs. George Cox, Isaiah Che- 
ney, Daniel Harsh, and Adam Evans are of the number. Vincent 
Nowotay and others who served in that war later settled in the 
county. Captain Simon H. Drum, a graduate of West Point, 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 191 

ai)pointC(l from S])ringfiel(l. was killed tii;iuins4' a battery of the 
Fourth Artillery. U. S. A., just inside of Belen Gate ( Garita de 
Belen) in the final assault and capture of the walled City of 
Mexico (September 13, 1847). ^^^^ body is buried in Ferncliff 
Cemetery. 

ciN'iL WAR, 1861-1865. 

The number of residents of Clark Count\', who. as officers, 
soldiers and sailors in the regular and volunteer service, joined 
the army or navy on the Union side in the Civil War. and who. 
having joined from other places, afterward became residents of 
the county, can only be approximately estimated. This number 
w'ill reach about twenty-five hundred and fifty (2550). not count- 
ing double enlistments. Those included in this numl)er who en- 
listed elsewhere will hardly exceed the large number, residents of 
the county, who were credited elsewhere, still leaving about 2550, 
the actual number of residents of the county who joined the army 
or navy in that war. Some of these were found in the regular 
army or navy, but for the most part they belonged to volunteer 
organizations, principally the following. 

SECOND OHIO INFANTRY. 

Captain Edwin C. Mason's company, enlisted here within 
twenty-four hours after President Lincoln's first call for volun- 
teers (April 15. 1861). became Company F of the Second Ohio 
Infantry (three months), and it fought under Captain David 
King at the first Bull Run (July 21. 1861) and many from this 
county served with the regiment in the Southwest in the three- 
years' service. Edwin C. TVIason later became Colonel of the Sev- 
enth Maine, then still later of the One Hundred and Seventy-sixth 
Ohio. He was appointed (1861) captain in the regular army, and 
was retired a few years before his death with the rank of Colonel 
and brevet brigadier-general. Mason distinguished himself in 
the Civil War. then in the Modoc Indian War. 

Captain James R. Ambrose, of this city, commanded a com- 
pany in the Second Ohio in the three-years' service. This regi- 
nVent did nuich heavy fighting and hard campaigning. 



192 CENTENNIAL OF 



TllIRU OHIO INFANTRY. 



Captain James C. Vananda enlisted here, aljout April 20. 
1861, what became Company D, Third Ohio X'olunteer Infantry, 
a three months and three years regiment. This company fought 
at Rich Mountain (July 11, 1861), in about the first battle of the 
war ; at Elk Water and Ch-jat Mountain, in West \ irginia. and 
campaigned and fought in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, 
notably at Perr\'sville, Kentucky (October 8, 1862). and at 
Stone's River, Tennessee, and it was captured on the Streight raid 
in Alabama in 1863. 

SIXTEENTH OHIO INFANTRY. 

Captain Philip Kershner took a Springfield company into the 
Sixteenth Ohio Infantry, where it saw much service in West Vir- 
ginia and in the Southwest, participating in many battles and 
sieges. This regiment came to be commanded by Colonel John 
D'Courcey, of royal English blood, afterward sitting in the House 
of Lords as Lord Kinsale. 

THIRTY-FIRST OHIO INFANTRY. 

Captain William H. Wade ( since for several terms in Con- 
gress from Missouri) took from this county Company K, Thirt>- 
first Ohio Infantry, and it saw much hard service and fighting in 
bloody campaigns and battles. ]irincipally in the Southwest, in- 
cluding Corinth, Perrysville and Stone's River (1862), Chicka- 
mauga and Missionary Ridge (1863), and the Atlanta campaign, 
etc.. in 1864. 

Captain William H. H. Mc Arthur, of this county (grandson 
of General and ex-Governor Duncan McArthur), was of this 
regiment. 

forty-foi;rtii ohio infantry. 

This regiment was organized on this Fair Ground in 1861, 
and it contained many Clark County men ( Hugh Blair Wilson, 
its Lieutenant-Colonel, was of Springfield), and it saw service in 
West Mrginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Later it became the 
Eighth Ohio Cavalry, and as such served with distinction in \'ir- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 193 

g'inia campaii^ns and liattles. Major Charles H. Evans was of this 
regiment ; also Lieutenant-Colonel August Dot/e. 

SEVENTY-FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

The Seventy-First ( )hio was organized in 1861. Colonel 
Rodney Mason, of Springfield, was its first commander. Com- 
pany I, commanded hy Captain Sol J. liouck, was organized in 
this county. Captain William S. Wilson (New Carlisle), now of 
Springfield, commanded a company in this regiment. It fought 
at Shiloh and in many battles and campaigns under Grant and 
Sherman. 

EIGHTY-SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Howard D. John, of Springfield, enlisted Company B of this, 
three-months' regiment, organized about June i, 1862. 



NINETY-FOURTH OHIO INFANTRY. 

Companies A and G of this regiment were of Clark County, 
commanded respectively by Captains Perry Stewart and Charles 
C. Gibson. David King (once of the Second Ohio) was first 
Major, then Lieutenant-Colonel of this regiment. Captain Ama- 
ziah Winger succeeded Captain Stewart in the command of Com- 
pany A. Lieutenants Hezekiah Kershner and Henry C. Cushman 
were of this company ; also George and Rol^ert N. Elder, Jacob A. 
Hinkle, Richard Leedle and other excellent soldiers and citizens. 
Nathan M. McConkey succeeded Gibson as Captain of Company 
(j. (jeorge W. Wilson (since a distinguished lawyer, London, 
Ohio, and two terms in Congress) was a First Lieutenant in Com- 
pnay G of this regiment. The regiment fought in Kentucky and 
Tennessee (1862-1863) and was in Sherman's Atlanta campaign 
and with his army from "Atlanta to the Sea" ( 1864) ; then 
marched and fought u]:) the Atlantic coast through the Carolinas 
and to the end of the rebellion. 

ONE IIUXDRI-.n AND TENTH OHIO INFANTRY. 

This regiment (Colonel J. Warren Keifer) had two com- 
panies (I and C) under Captains Luther P^rown and Nathan S. 
Smith enlisted from Clark Countv. Thev saw much service in 



194 CBNTENNIAL OF 

the Virginias and in Maryland, and participated in man\' l^attles 
and campaigns. The regiment was in the hattles at Winchester, 
and in New York City to put down riots and to enforce the draft, 
and in the battle of Orange Grove, Virginia ( 1863) ; and it was 
in the Wilderness campaign under Meade and Grant ; in the bat- 
tle of Monocacy, and under Sheridan in the Shenandoah \'alley 
(1864), and it was engaged in the seiges of Richmond and Peters- 
burg ; in the last assaults at the latter place, and it fought and 
participated in the last general field battle (Sailor's Creek) and 
campaign of the war, resulting in the surrender of Lee at Appo- 
mattox, April 9, 1865. Captain William A. Hathaway, of this 
county, was killed and buried at Monocacy. Captain Thomas J. 
Weakley (now of Dayton) was of Company I. 

j ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTV-Nl NTH OHIO. 

This (a six-months regiment ) was commanded by C(jlonel 
Howard D. John, of this county. Its Company C was commanded" 
by Captain Richard ^lontjoy. William J- Irvin and Charles An- 
thony were Lieutenants in that company ; Charles H. Pierce was 
its orderly sergeant. These and others of that company are well 
known as of our best citizens. This regiment performed valuable 
and hard service, and did fighting, chiefly (1863) at and al)out 
Cumberland Gap, Kentucky. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIXTH OHIO INFANTRY. 

Two companies (D and I) of this one hundred day regiment 
were enlisted and officered from Clark County about May 2, 18^)4, 
and Thomas W. Bown was its Major. Captain .Alfred Miller, 
First Lieutenant Thomas E. Stewart and Second Lieutenant Har- 
vey H. Tuttle were the officers of Company D. and Captain Alfred 
Bown, First Lieutenant \'alentine Newman and Second Lieuten- 
ant Elijah G. Coffin were the officers of Company L The officers 
and men of these companies were mostly from South Charleston 
and vicinity, and their service was mainly at Fayetteville, \\ est 
Virginia. 

ONE HUNDRED AND Fl FTV-.SECOXD OHIO IXFAXTKN'. 

In this regiment were a part of the one hundred days men 
from Clark County, who patriotically responded (May, 1864) to 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 195 

an cmcry-cncv call for troops. Many of our citizens went to the 
field under this call. This reg;inient saw hard service and did 
good campaigning- in Virginia and West Virginia. It was in the 
memorable Hunter raid, up the Shenandoah Valley in June. 1864. 
Captains Asa S. Bushnell and Charles A. Welch each commanded 
companies (E and K) from Clark County in this regiment. Ben 
jamin H. \\'arder was a first lieutenant in K Company. In K 
Company were A. P. Linn Cochran, John C. Miller, Clifton M. 
Nichols and George C. Rawdins, together with others of our 
most distinguished citizens. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFIV-THIRD OHIO INFANTRY. 

Colonel Israel Stough (once Captain h'orty-Fourth Ohio), 
from Clark County, commanded this (a hundred day) regiment, 
which was organized in ^ilay, 1864, on the same call with the One 
Hundred and Fifty-Second, and, like it, contained many of the 
•county's best citizens. Captains James I. McKinney and Harrison 
C. Cross commanded companies (E and F) made up of men of 
this county. The regiment did duty along the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad. A detachment of it engaged the enemy at Hammack's 
Mills, North River, West Virginia, and w-as captured; some were 
held as prisoners, and a few died in Andcrsonville, Georgia, and 
Florence, Alabama, prisons. 

SIXTEENTH OHIO INDEPENDENT I'.ATTERV. 

This battery was enlisted and mustered in (1861) from Clark 
■County. It was commanded by Captain James A. Mitchell, of 
Springfield, who descended from the Revolutionary and War of 
1812 soldier stock, already mentioned. This battery served prin- 
cipally along the Mississippi. Captain Mitchell lost his life in 
the Vicksburg campaign (Cham])ion Hill) while serving under 
Grant. 

In this company served Lieutenant I'jlward 11. I'lnistDU 
(since a Representative for several terms in Congress from Kan- 
sas), of New Carlisle, the father of now Brigadier-Cieneral Fred- 
erick Funston, U. S. A., famed for, among other things, the recent 
capture of Aguinaldo in the rhili])])ine Islands. ( leneral I-"unston 



196 CENTENNIAL OF 

was born in New Carlisle, this county, his mother being a 
Mitchell. 

SEVENTEENTH OHIO INDEPENDENT BATTERY. 

This battery was composed, principally, of Clark County 
men. Besides its Captain, Ambrose A. Blount, Lieutenants Will- 
iam Hunt, Jr., Absalom H. Mattox and Jeremiah Yeazell, of the 
county, were its officers. This battery campaigned and fought 
chiefly down the Mississippi, at Arkansas Post, on the Vicksburg- 
campaign, and at Mobile, Alabama. 

SQUIRREL HUNTERS^ 1862. 

When Cincinnati was threatened (September, 1862) by the 
Kirbv Smith raid, Clark County furnished her full share of those 
patriotic citizens who, without military training and poorly 
armed, rushed to camp and were thence taken to Cincinnati to aid 
in the defense of that then imperiled city. Among those who- 
thus went to war were the most estimable and prominent of our 
citizens. 

FIRST KENTUCKY INFANTRY. 

Captain Ralph Hunt, early in 1861, enlisted in Clark County 
what became Company C of the First Kentucky Infantry, in 
which it performed heroic and valuable service in many battles 
and campaigns in West Virginia and in the Southwest. 
****** 

Others, as officers, soldiers and sailors, of Clark County's- 
sons served with great credit in volunteer orgainzations not men- 
tioned, and in the regular army and navy. Of those from Clark 
County who were distinguished as surgeons, may be mentioned 
Majors Henry H. Seys, of the Third and Fifteenth, an-d John H. 
Rodgers, of the Forty-fourth and One Hundred and Fourth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry regiments, still living. 

At one time ( 1864) during the Civil War, three-fourths of 
the men of the required age, fit for duty, and above fifty per cen- 
tum of the voting population of Clark Count}- were in the mili- 
tarv and naval service of the United States. 

There were many who enlisted in the Union Army from 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 197 

Other places, even other States, who, after serviiii;- vaiiaiitlv in 
the Civil War. came to live among us. These we love to a(lo])t, 
honor and claim as our own. Colonels R. L. Kiljjatrick, Aaron 
Spano^ler (One Hundred and Tenth Ohio), James E. Stewart 
(each now deceased"), and Captains Edward L. lUichwalter and 
R. A. Starkey and Rev. Georg-e H. Fullerton 1). D. ( Cha|)lain 
First Ohio Infantry ) are among- this numher. 

UNITED STATES NAVY. 

There have been at least two sons of Springfield who have, 
through education and distinguished services, reached high rank 
in the United States Xavy. 

Reed Werden and Joseph X. ?* filler each graduated at the 
Naval Academy, each served with distinction on many seas and in 
the Civd \\'ar, and each was rewarded with the rank of Rear- 
Admiral. 

Admiral Werden also did good service in the ^^lexican \\'ar 
1846-1848) and Admiral Miller in the Spanish War (1898) ; the 
former died in 1886, and the latter is still living. 

Others of Springfield who were graduated at the Xaval 
Academy hold good rank and deserve mention for their high 
attainments and successful career. Lieutenant Clarence Williams, 
now in the United States Xavy, is of this number. 

UNITED STATES MIUTAin- A( ADi: M ^'. 

A number frci-i the count\- have been graduated at West 
Point, but none, however, have reached high rank in the army. 
One, John (Jack) \\ illiamscn. was graduated in the same class 
with U. S. Grant, and he shortly after enjoyed at his home here 
a personal visit from Lieutenant l^. S. Grant, since the most dis- 
tinguished soldier of any age. Williamson resigned from the 
army and died comparatively young. 

We do not pretend to exhaust the list of men from Clark 
County, who fairly won lasting fame in the military and naval 
service. Among the rank and file were some of the best and 
bravest ; and the Ohio rule of claiming great men applies to Clark 
County. All persons born or who have ever lived in the county. 



198 CENTENNIAL, OF 

however short the time, and regardless of where they hved, when,, 
or the circumstances under which they reached distinction, are, 
under this rule, Clark County men. 

From Big Bethel to Appomattox, wherever bloody sacrifices 
were to be made, on river, sea or land, men of Clark County were 
found ready to make them. 

They fought and fell under AlcClellan, Rosecrans, McDowell, 
Thomas, Sheridan, Sherman, Meade and Grant, and under the 
many other equally brave commanders of the Union Army. These 
volunteer citizen-soldiers shed their blood at Bull Run (1861), 
(1862) ; at Antietam. at Winchester (1862-1863), at Gettysburg, 
Orange Grove (1863), and in the many other large and small 
engagements in Virginia and on the Eastern theatre of war prior 
to 1864; and they fought and died at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, New 
Orleans, luka, Corinth, Perrysville, Stone's River (1862) ; Vicks- 
burg. Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain (above the 
clouds), Chickamauga, Knoxville (1863); Resaca, Kenesaw, 
Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro, and in the battles around Atlanta 
and on the march "from Atlanta to the sea ; at Franklin and Xash- 
ville, and on other sanguinary and bloody fields in the West and 
Southwest (1864) ; aga|n, in, the East, in the battles of the Wil- 
derness, at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and around Richmond and 
Petersburg, Virginia ; at Monocacy, Maryland ; Opequon, Fisher's 
Hill and Cedar Creek, in the Shenandoah Valley ( 1864), and at 
Five Forks and in the assaults on the fortifications and over the 
ramparts around Richmond and Petersburg ; at Bentonville, N. 
C. ; at Sailor's Creek ( the last general field engagement of the 
Civil War) ; at Appomattox and Mobile ( 1865), and on the hun- 
dreds of other fields of carnage, all to preserve the integrity of 
the Union of Washington and his patriot compeers of the Revo- 
lution of 1776, and the Constitution, resulting, under the provi- 
dence of God, in destroying slavery (the curse of the ages) in our 
Republic, where it had existed for two hundred and fifty years. 

The number of soldiers and sailors of the Civil War from 
the county, killed or who died of wounds and disease contracted 
in the service, cannot be ascertained. For the most part they were 
buried where they fell, and many were subsequently transferred 
to National Cemeteries. In each of these cemeteries will be found 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 199 

the names of soldiers or sailors from this count v. marked by a 
grateful country on headstones, and recorded in reg'isters. 

Any attempt at a list of soldier dead, buried in private ceme- 
teries and f^raveyards, must be a failure, and will prove unsatis- 
factory. 

I have seen a fairly complete list of such dead, showing" the 
names of about one hundred and seventy buried in Bethel Town- 
ship ; about one hundred and sixty in ]\Iaidson Township, and I 
have seen only an imperfect list from ^lad River Township. 
From other townships no lists have been accessible to me. 

A still incomjilete list of fifty soldiers buried in Greenmounf 
Cemeterv, Springfield, shows many once familiar names of wor- 
thy men, among whom I can here mention only Lieutenant Jerry 
Klinefelter, Major James C \'ananda. Captains William R. Mon- 
roe and David Sparks ; a like incomplete list of about two hundred 
soldiers and sailors buried in Ferncliff (.'emetery shows still other 
familiar, heroic names, among which are : Lieutenant-Colonel E. 
M. Doty, Colonel Howard D. John. Colonel J. P. Sanderson, 
Major Luther Brown, Major Andrew J. Williams (l^ S. A.), 
Captains Hezekiah Winger, Levi M. Rinehart. \\'. P. Cummings 
(U. S. A.), W. A. Stewart, Thomas P. Clarke and William H. 
Drum, U. S. A. (killed at City of Mexico), and General Edwin C. 
Mason, V. S. A. 

The soldiers buried in Clark County belonged to many of the 
volunteer regiments of the Cnion Army ; to many independent 
companies or batteries, and to the regular army or navy, and to 
all arms of the service ; generally they died where they fell or in 
military hospitals of wounds received in battle, or of disease con- 
tracted in war service ; some, there buried, died of starvation in 
Southern prisons. They signify the full measure of self-sacrificing 
loyalty, h.eroism, supreme efifort. suffering and death, entailing 
upon family and friends an untold measure of sacrifice, suffering 
and sorrow. 

Have not tlie good people of Springfield and Clark County 
patriotically performed tlieir highest duty to establish, preserve, 
perpetuate and advance the cause of ])olitical and civil liberty in 
our whole country ? 

Without the blood\- sacrifices and heroic achievements of the 



200 CENTENNIAL OF 

Civil War, by which human slavery was overthrown and the 
rights of man were up-built, and the spirit of Christian love was 
more universally spread throug'hout the civilized nations of the 
earth, a war for hiiiiiaiiify (Spanish War) would not have been 
possible. 

SPANISH WAR, 1898. 

On the call (1898) of President William ]\IcKinley for vol- 
unteers for the war to compel Spain to surrender her sovereignty 
over Cuba, because of her long-continued inhumanity to its inhab- 
itants (Spanish subjects), Springfield and Clark County contrib- 
uted their full share of soldiers and sailors, and many more of 
their young men were impatient because they were not accepted. 
Colonel Charles Anthony commanded the Third Ohio \"olunteer 
Infantry in the Spanish War. 

Captain William H. Bradbury's company (Ohio Xatiunal 
Guard) became Company B, of the Third, and Captain Horace E. 
Smith's became Company E, of the Tenth Ohio A'olunteer Infan- 
try ; Ca])tain R. R. Rudd's became Company A, Ninth Battalion 
(colored) of Infantry, and a section of Company — , Second 
United States N'olunteer Engineers (Lieutenant Arthur Balen- 
tinc) also went from this county. Large numbers of others went 
to the Spanish War from this county, as officers and soldiers or 
sailors in the army or navv. joining other organizations or the 
volunteer staff departments. Carl K. Mower became a Captain 
and Commissary of Subsistence and served with credit in Porto 
Rico and elsewhere; later he became Captain in the h^orty-First 
L^nited States Volunteers and served with distinction in the Phil- 
ippine Islands, and he now holds an appointment in the Lmited 
States Army. 

Horace C. Keifer was appointed (June. 1898) by the Presi- 
dent a Captain in tb.e Third I'nited States Volunteer Engineers, 
and he performed, by assignment of the War Department, the 
duties of an aide (often o*:her staff duties) on the staff" of Major- 
General J. Warren Keifer, in Florida, Georgia and Cuba, for about 
one year. Many of the Spanish War soldiers, and others of the 
county, enlisted in volunteer organizations in 1899 for service in 
the Philippines, and they liave there performed excellent and hard 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 201 

service ; some went into the reg'ular army and otliers into the 
United States Navy. 

In the al)ove eleven years of war (excludins:;; all Indian wars) 
of the nineteenth century, Clark County has valiantlv borne her 
full part in bearino- the flag of our country to victory on land and 
sea. No sacrifice has been too great for her citizens to willingly 
make. We may be justly proud and boastful of Clark County's 
war history, and we can feel sure that if exigencies arise which 
again bring war, that, inspired by high and worthy example, her 
sons will valorously do their duty in a just cause, in upholding 
our blood-baptized stars and stripes, long so sacredly emblematic 
of organized liberty to mankind. 

With all the significant things accomplished at the cost of 
Wood and treasure in the nineteenth century, future generations 
will not be contented to "mark time" over the grave of the past, 
but, inspired by the great deeds and discoveries and progress 
made manifest to them, will "quick step" forward and attain to 
yet other, higher, more useful and better things. 

Would to God we could foretell the events and the progress 
of the twentieth century, and write with the pen of prophecy 
Springfield's history as it will be on her second centennial. 

Thus, briefly and imperfectly, we have presented you Clark 
County's military history, believing it equal, all things considered, 
to that of anv other count\' in this State or Nation. 



[In the address delivered by General Keifer he has modestly 
refrairted from speaking of himself, save in a brief foot note, yet 
he is the most conspicuous figure in the militar)^ history of our 
county, and should, therefore, have some notice in this volume. 
At the outl>reak of the war, in 1861, General Keifer was a 
lawyer in Springfield, having been admitted to the bar in 1858. 
He volunteered at the beginning of the war and was appointed 
INIajor of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In the first year of 
the war he was in a number of battles in West A^irginia. In Febru- 
ary, 1862. he was made Lieutenant-Colonel and was on active duty 
in Kentucky and other States. In September, 1862, he was appointed 
Colonel of the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio. His regiment was 
transferred to \''irginia, where he fought in many battles, suffer- 
ing severe wounds and many hardships in the service. He was 



202 CENTENNIAL OF 

iM-evetted a Brigadier-General in 1864, and in 1865 Alajor-General' 
for "gallant and distingnished services." He served altogether 
four years and two months. After his return to Springfield he 
entered upon his profession, in which he was eminently success- 
ful. He became a member of the State Senate for two years ; was 
sent to the National House of Representatives for four terms, and 
during the third term served as Speaker. At the outbreak of the 
Spanish War he was appointed a Major-General, and faithfully 
discharged the duties assigned him. General Keifer is a conspic- 
uous figure in all that pertains to the welfare of our city. — Ed- 
itor. 1 




GOVERNOR GEORGE K. NASH. 



GOVERNOR GEORGE K. NASH'S ADDRESS. 



(lovernor Nash said in part : It gives me great pleasure to be- 
with you today, and to be able to congratulate you officially upon 
this centennial anniversary. I know that the people of Ohio are 
proud of Springfield and of Clark County. We have many beau- 
tiful and prosperous cities in Ohio, but when Ohio comes to ex- 
amine her municipal gems, she always finds that Springfield is 
one of the most beautiful of them all. In the name of the people 
of Ohio I congratulate you upon this centennial celebration. I do 
not congratulate you, however, merely upon the fact that you are 
one hundred years old. If I should do that, it would seem as if 
you are getting old. But Springfield today has more energy, more 
wealth, more prosperity than she ever had before. I believe that 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 203 

her next one hundrd years, with the advanta^^-es that she now has, 
will be much more pleasant to the people of Springfield than the 
years that have gone by. 

It is upon the bright prospects of your future that I congratu- 
late you as well as upon your past. Individually it gives me great 
pleasure to be with you. I was very glad to hear the rule which 
General Keifer gave for the men whom Clark County claims. I 
was glad to hear that rule, because under that rule I am entitled to 
claim that I am a Clark County man. 

In April, 1865, it was my good fortune to come to Springfield 
and here begin the study of law. Fortune did not ordain that I 
should stay with you very many months, but during that time I 
remember two days in which I had an opportunity to witness the 
patriotism of the people of Springfield and Clark County. I re- 
member well the 14th day of April, 1865. Lee and the armies of 
the rebellion had surrendered their power on the 9th of that 
month. Under the proclamation of the Governor of the State you 
were called upon to rejoice over the victory that had been won in 
that long war. This rejoicing occurred all over the State of Ohio, 
but I remember well the things which I witnessed in this city of 
Springfield. Your people assembled, 5,000. for the purpose of re- 
joicing. Upon every house, upon every shop, upon every available 
spot was displayed the flag of our country, waiving in such tri- 
umph as she had never known before. From the bottom of your 
heart you rejoiced that victory came ; you rejoiced that your boys 
were coming home. When you went to bed that night you re- 
joiced that you still had for President of the United States the 
most glorious patriot, the greatest man, the most faithful citizen 
that this country ever had, in the person of Abraham Lincoln. 

The next morning you were awakened to have the news con- 
veyed to you that the patriot President was dead. How changed 
was the scene. Upon every street corner, instead of rejoicing pa- 
triots, I saw your citizens in the depths of sorrow. Badges of 
mourning had taken the places of badges of rejoicing and victory. 
These two days, and the scenes which I witnessed upon those 
days, impressed upon me most vividly the patriotism of the people 
of Clark County. 

I am rejoiced to be present with this patriotic people today, to 



204 CEiNTENNIAL OF 

rejoice with you in all that you achieved in the way of success 
during the last one hundred years. 

And this is Soldiers' Day. I am glad that you have devoted 
one day to your soldiers. No man can tell what the soldiers have 
done for this country during her history. We all know what was 
accomplished by our Revolutionary soldiers. We all know what 
patriotism was exhibited in the War of 1812. We all know of the 
vast sacrifices which were made from 1861 to 1865. We know 
what those soldiers have done for us. We somewhat realize the 
-debt of gratitude which we owe to them on account of what they 
■did in the field during our \vars. But what our soldiers have done 
during times of peace has been far more patriotic and far more 
beneficial than what they did in the camp and upon the battle-field. 

Recall the old Revolutionary soldiers. When that war closed 
they were poor. They sought new homes. They came to Ohio 
and to all this country west of the Ohio River, and became the 
pioneers and founded the civilization in the great Northwest. 
They were good citizens. They were the best pioneers with which 
any country was ever blessed, and the prosperity of the great 
West is due to what those old Revolutionary soldiers did as pio- 
neers and as citizens. 

Now, how has it been in late years? How has it been with 
the old veterans of the war of 1861 to 1865? They followed the 
•example set by their fathers. They scattered, that war closed, 
through the great States w^est of the Mississippi River and east of 
the Pacific Coast. Among the pioneers who laid the foundations 
of those States, and who built up its civilization everywhere will 
be found the old soldiers of the Civil War. Go wherever you will, 
you find that those old soldiers have been our most faithful and 
•our strongest citizens for the last thirty-five years. For this work 
during the days of peace I give them more credit than I do for 
their labor during the Civil War. Each task was a patriotic one. 
Each task has been performed by them in a patriotic w^ay and with 
•glory to our country. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



205 




COLONEL JAMES KILBOURNE. 



COLONEL JAMES KILBOURNE'S ADDRESS. 



I deem it a very good fortune whicli permits me to be present 
today, and I heartily thank the committee to whom I am indebted 
for the honor of an invitation. 

Minghng tog"ether here are men of (hfferent ])ohtical views, 
different rehgious views. Here we have men of all relii^ious de- 
nominations, all political faiths. Republicans and Democrats, all 
gathered here together and all with the common purpose of honor- 
ing the memories of the fathers of this city. I say that such meet- 
ings as this are more far-reaching than was first thought of. .\ 
number of Ohio cities have already celebrated their centennial. 
This happens to be the first of this kind that I have attended, and 
it takes my thoughts back to the little village of W'orthington, 
which was founded by my grandfather a little more than one hun- 
dred years ago. I can still see the little schoolhouse, the first that 
I ever attended. My friends, there is nothing that this generation 
can do better than to show honor to the memories of those who 
came out from their earlier homes and located here in what was 



306 CENTENNIAL OF 

then the wilderness. We must not go backward. We must not 
even be content with our present. They left their early homes and 
came out here to the wilderness and founded the great State of 
Ohio. We can not follow them in that. There are no more Ohios 
to be built. The day of the land pioneer in Ohio is practically 
■over, but pioneer work in the way of a better civilization can be 
done if we are true sons of our pioneer fathers. 

In many ways our lives are better than our fathers' were. 
■Our food is better, our clothing is better, our enjoyments are bet- 
ter, our children are wealthier, and life is more worth living now 
than then. 

This is soldiers' day, and I wish to say a few words to my 
comrades, the old soldiers of the Civil War. Their numbers are 
■growing rapidly smaller and the body of many is bent with the 
weight of years of service, but their hearts are as warm and love 
for their services as strong as when I took up arms for the preser- 
vation of the Union. 

No one has a higher appreciation of their services than I. 
But when I think of old soldiers I naturally think of those who 
were with me. Comrades, our war is now past. Its great events 
have passed into history. Ai, new generation has come upon the 
stage. We risked our lives for our country. 

Our country is united, and the slave market is a thing of the 
past. We can not change the nature of man. We must continue 
to fight so long as God gives us breath, for honor, justice and 
truth. This Government, united by the wisdom and valor of our 
fathers, shall be kept inviolate for all times a heritage of fieedom. 

General Keifer then called Governor Bushnell, who spoke as 
follows : 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 207 




GOVERNOR ASA S. BUSHNKLL. 



GOVERNOR ASA S. BUSHNELUS ADDRESS. 



Mr. Cliairman, Ladies and Cciiflcmcn : 

T rejoice and congratulate you on this beautiful day and most 
auspicious occasion for the observance of "Soldiers' Day" at this, 
our Centennial Celebration — the one hundredth anniversary of 
the founding- of this city. 

The part that the citizens of this county have taken in all the 
wars in which the country has been engaged in the nineteenth 
centur\\ is a splendid histor}' — her people willingly and loyally 
responding to all calls for danger and duty, upholding liberty and 
the rights of men — as General Keifer has just said in his splendid 
address, for which we desire to thank and compliment him — he 
was very modest in the mention of his own service, but I want to 
say of him that he did as much, if not more, to bring distinction 
to this county as any of her soldiers, and there were many distin- 
guished officers and men among them. I am very happy to be 
here and take part with you in this day's exercises, not only be- 
cause we are celebrating a most important historical event — which 
it is eminently proper we should observe in honor and memory of 
the splendid old pioneers who first settled here — and as an educa- 
tion to the rising generation — but because we have with us distin- 
guished citizens of another county ; one of them, in fact, belongs 
to all the counties of the State, our Chief I^xccutive, Governor 



208 CEflSTTENNIAL OF 

Nash — the other a soldier of renown. Colonel Kilhourne, who- 
would like to succeed Governor Nash in his high office ; and, per- 
mit me to say, our city is very highly honored today, probably 
more so than any city of the State will be for years to come, and 
the honor is not alone by reason of this magnificent audience of 
fair women and brave men, but from the fact we have with us 
tJic Governor, the cx-Govcrnor and the next Governor. I con- 
gratulate you that we are thus favored, and I thank the Governor 
and Colonel Kilbourne for their presence, which has contributed 
so much to the interest and success of the occasion. I wish they 
could stay with us the remainder of the week ; we would endeavor 
to make it pleasant for them. Tomorrow (Thursday) is "Educa- 
tional Day," when all the colleges and schools of the city will take 
part in the exercises — papers will be read bearing on the present 
educational advantages of our city compared with those of the 
past, and many of the children of the public schools will be in at- 
tendance, making it in part a holiday for the children and a day 
of instruction for all. Friday will be "Labor Day," in which not 
only all the members of the dififerent labor organizations, but all 
the wage-earners of the citv will take part, bringing their wives 
and children with them, and for none have we greater respect than 
for the working people of our community ; they are the Iwne and 
sinew of our prosperity. Saturday will be "Woman's Day,"" and 
no celebration can be a success without the countenance and co- 
operation of the women, and I take pleasure in saying the women 
have done much toward bringing this celebration to a successful 
issue, which is now assured, and are entitled to our sincere thanks 
— which are hereby tendered — for their support. To all these 
meetings, dear friends, you are invited, especially the "Woman's 
Day" meetings ; at those, papers on important subjects and of rare 
interest will be read, and, fellow citizens, as many of you as can, 
we hope will attend each day. 

I beg your pardon for having kept you so long. The hour of 
noon is at hand, and if I detain you further, I am sure you will 
say as one of General Keifer's soldiers did. He had been sick in 
the hospital for a number of weeks with fever ; in the weakness 
of convalescence the surgeon found him crying, and, to comfort 
him, said : "My good man, you must not cry : you are getting bet- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 209 

ter — you'll get well." ''Oh !" said the soldier, "that's not what 
I am crying about ; I'm crying because I didn't eat more kraut at 
Camp Piqua." If I keep you longer, you may feel like crying 
because you did not eat more breakfast this morning, so I shall 
detain you but for a closing word. 

The hours of this day have been altogether glorious, but the 
occasion will soon be passed. Neither we nor our children can 
expect to behold its return. That time is in the distant regions 
of futurity, and it exists only in the all-creating power of God. 
Who shall stand here a hundred years hence to survey, as we 
have surveyed, the progress of their county — the lapse of a cen- 
tury? We would anticipate and partake the pleasure with which 
they will then recount the steps of their advancement. On the 
morning of that day, although it will not disturb us in our repose, 
the voice of acclamation and gratitude, commencing on the Rock 
of Plymouth, shall be transmitted through millions of the Sons of 
the Republic until it loses itself in the murmurs of the Pacific Seas. 



210 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 




SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 211 

VII 

FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THE 

PRESS. 



Thursday, the 8th, was devoted to the interests of fraternal 
organizations, fraternal homes, and the press. The paper con- 
cerning our fraternal organizations was not read, but will be found 
below. 

Our city has three institutions sustained by the fraternal 
todies of the State which have become a pride to all our people. 
They are the :\Iasonic Home, Pythian Home, and Odd 
Fellows' Home, each occupying a commanding site. Their 
beautiful grounds, fine buildings, their excellent management, 
their kindly care for young and old, and the many bright 
and happy faces of the children who find a home in them, make 
them a joy to all who become acquainted with their object and 
their administration. During this day the children of these homes 
were present and gave a number of exhibitions in drill and calis- 
thenics which greatly delighted the large audiences that were in 
attendance. 

Springfield has reason to feel proud of what she has done in 
the field of literature and the press. Books written by Springfield 
and Clark County authors, and published here, are numbered by 
the scores. Some of them are' Jof a high degree of excellence and 
are worthy of a careful reading. A collection of about fifty vol- 
umes was made by the Committee on the Press, and these volumes 
were placed on exhibition during centennial week. 

In newspapers, Springfield has always had its full share. 
They have been devoted to politics, to agriculture, to temperance, 
and to religion, and have been great agencies in helping to fight 
the great civic and moral battles which are incident to the life and 
development of a growing and prosperous city. Their influence 
has not been confined to mere local bounds, but has gone out to the 
broader fields of human life and has been favorable to the best 
statesmanship, the best religious development, and to the highest 
type of everyday life. Our newspapers have, therefore, been use- 
ful, progressive, and helpful. 



212 



CENTENNIAL OF 




SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 313 




p. M. CARTMELL. 



DATA CONCERNING SECRET SOCIETIES^ 



BY MR. P. M. CARTMELL. 



Insti- Member- 
Name. Number, tiited. ship. 
American Mysteries i 1849 34 

Ancient Order Hibernians (five divi- 
sions) 1875 350 

Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. ... 51 1885 161 

Free and Accepted Masons — 

Clark Lodge loi 1848 328 

Anthony Lodge 455 1871 252 

Springfield Chapter 48 185 1 286 

Springfield Council 17 1852 197 

Palestine Commandery 33 1878 200 

Masons (Colored) — 

Champion Lod^e 15 1865 ' 75 

Eureka Lodge 3 1895 65 

Hiram Lodge 7 1897 40 

Golden Star i 1879 41 

Mt. Olive Chapter 4 1871 40 

Hiram Cliapter 3 1899 40 

St. James Council 2 1896 25 

Wilson Commandery 2 1874 24 

Washington Temple 7 1899 ^4 

Fraternal Mystic Circle 3 1885 ^6 



214 CENTENNIAL OP 

Insti- Member- 

Name. Number, tuted. ship. 

Grand Army of the Republic — 

Mitchell Post 45 1881 210 

John Brown Post 633 1887 31 

Woman's Relief Corps 315 1891 56 

Improved Order Red Cross — 

Olive Branch '. . . 5 1885 30 

Independent Order Red Cross — 

Elite Commandery 23 1897 56 

Improved Order of Red Men — 

Lagonda Tribe 61 * 1872 129 

Ontario Tribe 96 1888 100 

Pocahontas Council 25 1885 58 

Euola Council 22 1892 49 

Fried Commandery 8 1901 36 

Independent Order Foresters 1435 1893 38 

Independent Order Odd Fellows — 

Springfield Lodge 33 1844 470 

Ephraim Lodge 146 1850 280 

Goethe Lodge 384 1867 183 

Lone Star Lodge 732 1884 165 

Mad River Encampment 16 1865 105 

Lagonda Encampment 280 1895 70 

Springfield Encampment 264 1892 20 

Canton Occidental 21 1891 42 

Fideha Lodge (Rebekah Degree) ... 12 1869 315 

Star of the East 339 1891 120 

Ivor Lodge 415 1895 125 

Schiller Lodge 420 1895 95 

Champion Binder, G. U. O. O. F. .. . 3027 1888 62 

Solomon Temple. G. U. O. O. F. . . . 1498 1872 100 

Springfield Patriarchie, G.U.O.O.F. 24 1881 35 

Household of Ruth 133 1879 5^ 

Household of Ruth 628 1890 46 

Good Samaritans ' 4 1865 105 

Daughters of Jerusalem i 1849 60 

Junior Order U. A. M. — 

Champion Council 2 1872 383 

Buck Creek Council 143 1891 lOO 

Helping Hand Council 61 1900 180 

Springfield Council 240 1892 339 

Home City Council 27 1894 130 

Violet Council 29 1894 97 

Uniform Rank 3 1900 30 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 215 



Name. Number. 

Knights of Ancient Essenic 22 

Knights of the Golden Eagle — 

Logan Castle i 

Lincoln Castle 9 

Champion Castle 26 

Springfield Commandcrv 2 

Logan Commandery 3 

Fidelity Temple 12 

Honor Temple 24 

Valor Temple 25 

Knights of Fidelity 11 

Knights of Maccabees — 

Springfield Tent 272 

Lagonda Tent 381 

Ferncliff Hive 170 

Knights of Pythias — 

Aloncrieffe Lodge 33 

Red Star Lodge 205 

Lessing Lodge 372 

Ingomar Lodge 610 

Knights of Pythias (Uniform Rank) — 

Springfield Company 6 

Champion City Company 44 

Lessing Company 105 

Rathbone Sisters '113 

Knights of Pythias (Colored) — 

Diamond Lodge 30 

Mystery Lodge 45 

Star Division 4 

Court of Calanthe 5 

Court of Calanthe 17 

Knights of Tabor 306 

Daughters of Tabor 503 

Kesher Shal Barzel 138 

Modern Woodmen — Commercial Camp. . 3347 

National Union — 

Royal Council 81 

Crescent Council 528 

Patriotic Order Sons of America — 

Washington Camp i 

Protective Home Circle — 

Iron Circle 258 

Springfield Circle 155 

Wilhelm Circle 294 



Insti- Member- 


tnted. 


ship. 


1896 


75 


1887 


153 


1887 


160 


1898 


102 


1889 


40 


1889 


75 


1895 


60 


1898 


40 


1895 


55 


1900 


96 


1894 


89 


1897 


33 


1896 


no 


1871 


296 


1886 


300 


1889 


96 


1892 


235 


1878 


62 


1884 


73 


1890 


25 


1897 


77 


1887 


105 


1898 


70 


1888 


25 


1898 


70 


1898 


55 


.... 


67 


.... 


98 


1875 


15 


1895 


140 


T884 


154 


1890 


TOO 


1898 


46 


i8(/) 


35 


1892 


86 


1897 


51 



216 



CENTENNIAL OF 



Name. Number. 

Royal Arcanum — Lagonda Council 151 

United Commercial Travelers — 

Champion City Council 23 

Sons of Veterans — 

Z. Barney Phillips Camp 37 

Sisters of Mysterious Ten 23 

Tribe of Ben-Hur 32 

Union Veterans' Union — 

Stevens Command 16 

United Brothers Friendship 10 

Queen Esther's Court 4 

Woman's Veteran Relief Union 32 

Total membership 



Insti- Member- 


tuted. 


ship. 


1878 


63 


1888 


87 


1884 


46 


1895 


35 


1898 


210 


1887 


183 


1895 


105 


1882 


62 


1895 


43 



11,3x1 



FRAi'ERNAL HOMES. 


1 
1 


Cost of Building. . 


rr 

a 
I 




I 

c. 
< 




OS 

1 
u 


D 
EO 
CO 

< 

i 


Masonic 


1895 
1895 
1895 


1145,000 

140,000 

75,000 


145 
138 
174 


154 

82 
75 


1146 17 

97 80 

136 71 


% 45 


Kjiights of Pythias : . . 

Odd Fellows 


.40 
40 















SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



217 




-mm 



218 CENTENNIAL OF 



if 




MR. CLIFTON M. NICHOIiS. 



THE PRINTING AND PUBLISHING INTERESTS OF 
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, I800-J900. 



BY MR. CLIFTON M. NICHOLS. 



It is quite safe to assert that, one hundred years ago, there 
was no fairer portion of America than that shown by the primeval 
forests, the graceful highlands, the rich and charming valleys, and 
the beautiful streams of the Mad River Valley in the territory now 
covered by the County of Clark, Ohio. No doubt the beauty of 
the landscape had its due influence on the scouts of an advancing 
civilizatioii, but the chief attractions were of a mere physical char- 
acter : the game of the woods, the fish of the streams, and the fer- 
tility of the soil. Our ancestors of 1801 were pioneer home-seek- 
ers — vigorous, enterprising, intelligent and farseeing, and yet had 
not the slightest glimpse of the great empire, the foundations of 
which they, with others, in many portions of virgin territory, had 
commenced laying. 

But, while neither prophets nor philosophers, they builded 
well, both for themselves and for posterity. 

The log meeting-house and the log schoolhouse marked the 
outposts of the coming army in 1804 and 1806, and in 181 7 
Springfield had its first newspaper. It was called the Farmer, as 
were the larger number of little journals of that day, as their sup- 
porters were mostly of the agricultural class. So far as is known. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 219 

no copies of this paper have been preserved. Necessarily, it was 
small in dimensions and uncouth in appearance. It was not really 
a newspaper; it was hardly a public journal. But it was quite up 
to the requirements of that day. Its appearance each week was 
gladly greeted. Its news from across the water and from remote 
portions of this country, if only six weeks old. was considered 
quite fresh. European kingdoms might tumble down and be re- 
constructed while the special advices were coming on the sailing 
vessels to our shores. The printer was the proprietor, publisher, 
editor, and, to a large extent, "devil.'" 

The paper was a one-man power, and the Ben Franklin 
wooden press, worked by the editor, had the ink applied by balls 
by the office boy. 

Now, in Springfield, we have our news in as many minutes as 
our journalistic forefathers had theirs in weeks. Indeed, we have 
our London reports of foreign events, nominally four hours ahead 
of their occurrence : that is to say, at two in the afternoon we 
have quite elaborate accounts of things that are not known in Lon- 
don and do not occur until six. This can be verified by referring 
to cable dispatches of the local paper any day in the year. 

In 1820 the Farmer was edited by George Smith. Soon after- 
ward Henry Rogers took charge of the paper and changed the 
name to the Farmers' Advocate, and in 1823, B. H. Rogers became 
owner, and the paper was known as the Western Pioneer, and in 
1849 Jo^^i^ M. Gallagher and J. B. Halsey changed the name of 
the paper to the Republic. The paper is now known as the Press- 
Republic, and traces its origin back to 1817. 

The growth of journalism from 1817 to 1901 has corre- 
sponded with the growth of the tow^n and the city. It was not 
many years before the newspaper became a political power. An 
infusion of party politics became perceptible before a news-service 
made its appearance. With politics came men, who used the press 
to promote their political principles, and they proved happily to be 
men of influence and power. One of these men was William A. 
Rogers, who first appeared in 1829 and edited the Pioneer for a 
number of years. He became eminent not only as a journalist, 
but as a public man and a judge, and, had he lived, would have 
achieved the highest honors. Another, who lived at the same 



220 CENTENNIAL OP 

period, was- John M. Gallagher. He was much in public life. 
Both gentlemen were known in politics, but they were pure men — 
without fear, without reproach. For ability and really statesman- 
like qualities it is doubtful if we have had their equals in journal- 
ism since. 

They died long ago, and it will do no harm to tell the truth 
about them now. They were honored in their lives — they are hon- 
ored still more now. 

We might print a long list of eminent men who came after 
these gentlemen: Moses M. Henkle, Edward H. Gumming (a 
lawyer and clergyman as well as an editor), the Williamsons, Mr. 
Gushing, and the Halseys, Thomas Harrison, and, in later years, 
George H. Frey, the oldest man now living in Springfield who has 
been known in journalism. He has been a most eminent and use- 
ful factor in public affairs through a long series of years. In 1853 
he published the first daily paper ever printed in Springfield, 
which existed for six months. It is proper to mention here the 
appearance of a little weekly paper called the Dollar Nonpareil, as 
that paper and the Republic were published simultaneously for a 
number of years and finally became one, under the name of the 
older paper. 

In 1852, George W. Hastings, Avho came here from Gincin- 
nati, and James J. Green, both practical printers, commenced the 
publication of the Nonpareil. Glifton M. Nichols, also a practical 
printer from Gincinnati, soon succeeded Mr. Green, and in 1855 
Mr. Hastings and his partner began the regular issue of the Daily 
Nonpareil, the first Springfield daily to maintain a permanent ex- 
istence. 

It is necessary now to speak of the origin of a paper that be- 
came prominent at this time — the Democratic Expositor, as its ed- 
itor, William G. Boggs, was a contemporary with Mr. Frey and 
Mr. Nichols in discussing, through the press, the affairs of the 
town and nation. Mr. Frey and Mr. Nichols were Republicans, 
from the birth of the party in 1854. In 1839 ^^^ ^'^^ River Dem- 
ocrat made its appearance. It afterward became the Union 
Democrat and then the Clark County Democrat. John M. West 
was the editor. 

E. G. Dial came after Mr. West, and published The Ex- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 221 

positor of the Fourth Congressional District, afterward abbrevi- 
ated, by way of economizing time and space, to the Democratic 
Expositor, with Wilham G. Boggs in charge. The paper passed 
through many changes and ownerships until it is now known as 
the Springfield Daily Democrat. Thomas D. Wallace is now the 
publisher and Harry E. Rice editor. 

One more statement will give the origin of the Springfield 
Daily Gazette and bring it up to date, as one of the present "Big 
Four" factors in Springfield journalism. In 1873 T. E. Har- 
wood, a "graduate" of the Republic concern, started a small 
weekly which he called the Commercial Gazette. Ultimately an- 
other Republic man, Charles E. Folger, became the editor, 
and both gentlemen are in charge of the business and editorial 
departments of the Daily Gazette. The Gazette vindicated its 
right to be born and to exist, meeting a public need by showing 
itself to be a clean, interesting and strong evening paper. 

Buried in the Republic concern lay the remains of the "late 
lamented" Evening Telegram, commenced in 1861 by Henry Clay 
Craft and subsequently edited by Hon. Jacob R. Dodge, who pub- 
lished at the same time the American Ruralist, a most able and 
excellent weekly magazine; the Springfield Daily Times (pub- 
lished nearly a year by Wells S. Trader), and the Springfield 
Daily Advertiser. Afterward the Daily Globe, with the late 
Charles E. Winters as manager, made its appearance, and was a 
handsome, able and enterprising paper. After a few years the 
company bought the Republic, the paper becoming the Globe- 
Rcpublic, and later Coates Kinney, C. M. Nichols and others, 
under the style of Kinney, Nichols & Co., bought the Globe- 
Republic, and the paper continued publication at the old 
Republic stand, the site of the Republic building being ultimately 
occupied by the present magnificent Bushnell Building — the Gov- 
ernor having had a brief experience in journalism. During his 
administration C. M. Nichols and Hon. John F. McGrew were at 
the helm. 

One more change gave to us the Press-Republic. Mr. Arthur 
D. Hosterman bought the Champion City Times, a vigorous daily, 
and the Republic, and united them. The paper is now with us, 
demonstrating its strong qualities daily. 



222 CENTENNIAL OF 

The Sun is now in its seventh year. It is a morning daily. 
It was organized and is now published by printers and journalists, 
and has been under the same management throughout the period 
of its existence. This shows the extraordinary pluck, persistence 
and enterprise of its editors and managers, which qualities have 
given to the concern a degree of success that is really wonderful. 
Enos Conard is the publisher and Harvey L. Miller the editor. 

C. M. Nichols was retained as editor of the Republic for a 
year after the consolidation with the Times and resigned to be- 
come the secretary of the Springfield Board of Trade, of which 
institutipn he was one of the founders, twelve years ago. He 
had an unbroken career of thirty-five years of service as editor 
and part proprietor of the Daily \Rcpiihlic. The Press-Republic, 
with its splendid building, one of the finest newspaper plants in 
Ohio, is owned by Ed. S. Kelly. James A. Linn is the publisher 
and Walter R. Linn the editor. 

Th& Advertiser, already mentioned, was edited, ably, by Oscar 
T. Martin, Esq., now a most prominent and honored member of 
the Clark County bar. 

The German press has been most creditably represented by 
the Journal-Adlcr, founded and conducted for many years, by 
Louis Weixelbaum, with signal abilty. 

The history of newspapers, previous to the Civil War, during 
the period of discussion of the problems involved in the attempted 
extension of the institution of slavery over territory then free, the 
gigantic struggle of the Civil War, in which the problem was 
fought out, in the greatest conflict the world has ever seen — in 
principles involved, in the number of men arrayed against each 
other, and in the hundreds of thousands who fell on the field and 
died in hospitals, and afterward in the reconstruction times — the 
history of the newspaper during these periods was co-extensive 
with the history of the country and need not be discussed in this 
paper. The time was one that severely tried the souls of men 
and women ; but resulted, ultimately, in extinguishing sectional 
hatred and in giving us at last a united country, and in introducing 
a period of growth and prosperity so great and grand as to ex- 
ceed anything known or even dreamed of in the history of any 
nation. The newspapers and the intelligent and patriotic citizens 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 233 

■of Springfield and Clark County stood solidly at the front, in sup- 
port of the soldiers in the field and in the expression of public 
opinion at home, in promoting and establishing a free and popular 
Government — the freest and grandest of any on earth. This has 
been often said, but it is just the proper time to say it again. 

At least a brief and honorable mention should be made of our 
local religious press. The Gospel Herald, edited and published by 
the late Rev. James Williamson, and The Methodist Recorder, 
edited successively by Revs. Dr. George Brown and Alexander 
Clark, and Rev. Ancel H. Bassett, were published here many 
years ; and The Evangelical Lutheran, edited by the late Rev. 
Victor L. Conrad, was a strong paper, printed here for quite a 
long period. D. T. West published the Sunday Neivs for a num- 
ber of years. He was an able and vigorous writer. I regret that 
I have not space for further detail. A large volume could be 
printed if a full history were given of all the persons eminently 
worthy of a prominent place in this record. 

The contrast between the newspaper at the beginning of the 
nineteenth century and today's issues at the opening of the twen- 
tieth shows a marvelous advance and growth. The little folio of 
1817 or 1820, placed by the side of our great Springfield news- 
papers of today, with type set by machinery, with immense per- 
fecting presses, and giving to our citizens, in Associated Press 
dispatches, the news simultaneously with New York, Chicago and 
Cincinnati papers, presents a wonderful picture of intellectual 
progress and achievement. 

But the printing and publishing interests of the city in the 
production of periodicals and books, have shown a development 
quite as marvelous as that shown by newspapers. On Octo- 
ber I, 1877, was first printed a semi-monthly journal 
called the Farm and Fireside, by Mast, Crowell & Kirk- 
patrick, the same journal being now published by J. S. 
Crowell, T. J. Kirkpatrick, and others. In 1885 these 
two gentlemen commenced the publication of an illustrated 
monthly periodical now known as the Woman's Home Companion. 
which periodical has met with an extraordinary degree of success. 
The Crowell & Kirkpatrick Company has now one of the finest, 
most extensive and best equipped printing and publishing con- 



234 CENTENNIAL OF 

cerns in the United States, in a handsome four-story building of 
its own — with every apphance known for the execution of the 
several processes required in producing artistic printing and illus- 
trating. Of all the manufacturing concerns in Springfield, no one 
has exerted a higher educational and more refining influence than 
this company. And in addition to its periodicals, of which more 
than a million copies a month are regularly produced, the company 
has printed and published hundreds of thousands of useful pam- 
phlets and books. 

On January i, 1875, was commenced the publication of the 
weekly now known as the National Nezv Era, which has acquired 
a very large circulation, and with the paper has grown up a large 
printing business, with a large and fine plant of its own. R. H. 
Thompson is the editor and publisher. 

The publication of the Farm Nezvs was commenced here in 
1890, and the Farm and Garden was established subsequently. 
The two have had an immense development, and are now pub- 
lished by J. N. Garver and have a combined circulation 
(monthly) of nearly 175,000 copies. A. D. Hosterman — for 
years connected with the' Republic — was for several years jointly 
interested with Mr. Garver in the publication of these journals. 
Mr. Garver has his own printing concern. 

The successful work of the Farm and Fireside and Home 
Companion, and the circulation of these periodicals throughout 
the United States, may be said to have created a literary atmos- 
phere in this city favorable to the production of publications of 
this sort, and Home and Flozvers made its first appearance in 1897 
and attained a circulation in 1901 of 125,000 copies. Its manager 
is D. J. Thomas, and his degree of success in building up so 
great a business in so short a time is nothing less than amazing. 
The Floral Publishing Company, of which he is the head, also 
issues Pets and Animals and the Home Florist, each of which has 
attained a large circulation. 

Our group of printing and publishing houses is one of the 
most creditable features known in our city, and exerts a most 
wholesome educating influence on the community. The Barrett 
Publishing Company is one of these, with a fine building of its 
own, provided with fine machinery for printing and binding. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 325 

E. L. Barrett is one of the founders, and is at the head of this 
concern. 

One of the finest and hest equipped printing and Hthograph- 
ing concerns in the country is the Winters Company, of this city. 
Its splendid success in executing the illustrated work of the Co- 
lumbian Exposition in 1893 made it famous throughout the civil- 
ized world. The best and most illustrious artists in America were 
employed, and their work and that of the company has not been 
excelled to this day. The company has a plant of its own, and" 
hardly has its equal, for the taste and beauty of its work, in any 
country. 

Any intelligent person who would investigate, if it were pos- 
sible to do so successfully, the extent to which the millions of 
issues each month of our periodicals reach the people of vaficfv}<> 
classes throughout the land would be astonished as well as im- 
mensely pleased with the result of his work. No city in the world, 
of the size of Springfield, can show so good and creditable a rec- 
ord as she. Her printed sheets correspond, in excellence and en- 
terprise, with the machinery from her workshops that is found in 
all civilized countries. No higher pjraise can be given than this. 

A large number of gentlemen may be named as having taken 
large part in journalism in addition to those already mentioned. 
Among them Captain D.C.Ballentine (now of Washington, D. 
C), Byron O. Elifritz, Charles E. Winters (now dead). Captain 
B. H. Winters a,nd Robert P. Winters, Charles S. Kay, Quincy A, 
Petts, R. B. Stevenson (now of Cincinnati), Isaiah Thomas (lost 
at sea many years ago), Hon. William T. Coggshall (United' 
States Minister to Ecuadoir, of much fame as an author), Frank 
J. Webb, Ben Kurtz of Baltimore, Major Frank S. Rice of Cali- 
fornia, and quite a number of others. W. T. Stillwell was editor 
of the Champion City Times previous to its consolidation with the 
Republic. Hon James H. Rabbitts, now postmaster, was editor of 
the Republic for several }ears. And there are others whose names 
might properly appear on this scroll of worthies, who have, as a 
class, done inestimable service in building up the best interests of 
our citv during the last hundred vears. 



326 CENTENNIAL OF 

During the same day an adjourned meeting of the old pio- 
neers was held. There was so much to be said on the part of 
those who had passed their three score and ten to more than four 
score years, that would be entertaining to those of younger years, 
that more time was given for the old pioneers to be heard, and 
many of them gladly embraced the privilege ofifered. Judge 
F. M. Hagan opened the meeting, speaking on the pioneers of 
Clark County. 

Mr. Henry Croft, who is 8i years old and has lived all his 
life in Clark County, told how he helped to run the first thresh- 
ing machine used in Ohio, in 1828. In those days all the clothing 
was made by the mother, with the exception of the hats, which 
were made in Springfield by hatters. Singing schools were the 
chief form of amusement in those days. During the long winter 
months they sang ever}' night, and, according to Mr. Croft, 
"there never has been such good singing since." To get to 
Springfield it was necessary to follow the river to the hill west of 
the city, where a cut had been made through the rocks just wide 
enough to let one wagon pass through. It was always necessary 
to go ahead to see whether a wagon was coming, before an at- 
tempt was made to drive on. 

Rev. Benjamin Seever, Mr. W. A. Barnett, Mr. Elder Stew- 
art, Mr. James Anderson and Mrs. M. C. W'ilkerson related 
many things that were of much interest to those present. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 337 

VIII 
LABOR ORGANIZATIONS AND AGRICULTURE 



Friday, the 9th, was devoted to the consideration of Labor 
.and Labor Organizations, and to Early Agriculture in Clark 
County. These interests are of prime importance to our welfare. 
Clark County is made up of fertile soil, there being but few acres, 
of untillable land within its borders. It is watered b}^ three im- 
portant streams, with their tributaries. Many places which, two 
generations ago, were marshes and swamps, are now drained and 
are among the best lands of the county. Here the farmer early 
flourished because he was able to reap and gather more products 
from his farm than were necessary for the wants of himself and 
family. He was not only ready to trade, but with his excess of 
supplies he was enabled to purchase for himself those articles 
that would best help him in the work of further production. Our 
•county became a good field in which to sell the best machinery. 

This in turn stimulated the demand for labor. Farm imple- 
ments must be built, and to accomplish this, laborers must be 
gathered together and organized. Hence our great factories 
which have made Springfield famous throughout the world, had 
their rise more than a half-century ago through need of labor to 
supply the wants near at home. Labor in Springfield has had a 
remarkable history. Thoug-h there have been thousands of work- 
men in the past, and their numbers legion today, there have been 
but few rhinor disturbances growing out of differences between 
the employer and the employed, and those that did occur were 
soon settled. Our laborers have usually been intelligent, inde- 
pendent, and progressive. Many of them have secured a 
competence, and thousands of them have acquired for them- 
■selves homes. Mr. R. C. Holman, who is one of the best farm- 
.ers in the county, was chairman of the day. 



228 CENTENNIAL OF 




MB. JUI^TUS <■. WILLIAMS. 



PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE AGRICUL- 
TURAL INTERESTS OF CLARK COUNTY. 



BY MR. JULIUS C. WILLIAMS. 



At the beginning of the nineteenth century the proud City of 
Springfield was not known. The agricultural interests of our 
county were, indeed, in a very primitive condition. The wants of 
our pioneer fathers were few that could not be supplied by the 
rifle, as the forest at that time teemed with wild game of every 
kind, from the squirrel to the buffalo. The pioneers, as a rule, 
were expert huntsmen. The little log cabin afforded ample shel- 
ter from the inclemency of the weather. 

Their implements of husbandry were few and rude, the axe, 
shovel, and plow being the essential tools in the early improve- 
ment of this county. The development of the agricultural inter- 
ests of the county forms a history equally as interesting as the 
founding of the city that we today celebrate. It was the develop- 
ment of the agricultural facilities of the county that gave the in- 
spiration to the fertile brains of our inventors and manufac- 
turers. 

The first cultivated lands found within the limits of this 
county were those vacated by the Shawnees, when they were 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 229 

-driven out by General Clark and his army in 1780. The Dayton, 
Sprino^eld & Urbana electric road passes through these lands. 
The present owners of said lands are Leander Baker, C. B. 
Crane, C. AI. Alinnick and brother. J. B. Crane, Dr. Marquart, 
Robert Lowry, and others. Then, as now, the principle products 
were corn, wheat, and flax. Those pioneers were progressive 
men, possessed with considerable will power, being determined to 
win for themselves and families homes of comfort in the wilder- 
ness, surrounded as they were with wild 1)easts and savage men. 
Many unfavorable conditions well calculated to deter and dis- 
courage, were met with, but, undismayed, they labored on, know- 
ing full well that victory comes only through trial. 

The wooden mold-board plow, such as you can see today in 
the rooms of your Historical Society, was an important factor in 
the development of the early agricultural interests of the county. 
A brush harrow was used in the preparation for the seed bed, and 
■also for the covering of the seed, the seed being scattered broad- 
cast over the ground. At harvest, the reaping hook was used in 
securing the golden grain. Like Naomi and Ruth, our pioneer 
mothers were gleaners in the field. As a rule, after attending to 
their household duties, they invariably shared in the labor of sav- 
ing the crops. Never in the history of our race was there a more 
devoted, heroic, self-sacrificing class of w^onien than were the 
pioneer mothers who first settled in this county, and your history 
will be incomplete unless a large space is devoted to their mem- 
ory. It was their unwavering fidelity that made.it possible for 
the splendid civilization that marks our history today. After the 
harvest was secured, the grain was threshed out by beating with 
a rude instrument called a flail, one of which ought to find a place 
in the collection of the Historical Society. The grain was sepa- 
rated from the chafY by using a linen sheet, made by the mothers 
from the flax that grew u])on the farm. The flax brake, the spin- 
ning wheel, and weaver's loom were all necessary implements 
in the make-up of the farmer's outfit, and were valuable step- 
ping-stones in the progress of our civilization, and in the de- 
velopment of the agricultural interests of this great country. 
These rude instruments of hus1)andry answered the purpose 
of our pioneer fathers as well. ])crhaps. as does our improved, 
up-to-date machinery of today answer our purpose. 



230 CENTENNIAL OF 

The total numl^er of acres under cultivation in the entire 
county, at the date of the buildins;- of the first cabin on the site of 
Springfield, did not exceed 500, and the total product was 
less than three thousand bushels. And from this humble begin- 
ning, up to the present day, the agriculture of Clark County has- 
kept in touch with every other legitimate industry of the county 
or city. Nowhere in the State of Ohio can be found a more pros- 
perous or a more intelligent husbandry than is found within our 
borders. From the wooden mold-board plow we have passed to 
the use of the splendid steel gang plow. So when we stir the 
soil we ride on springs, and under cover. From the reaping 
hook we have passed the grain cradle, the back-breaking reaper^ 
the self-rake, and now ride in the shade while harvesting our 
grain upon the far-famed Champion self-binder, manufactured 
here in your city. From the simple flail and tramping floors used 
by our fathers for threshing grain, with the shaking fork and 
hand rake, we have passed through all the evolutions in that line 
up to the present, and rejoice in the use of the steam separator 
and blower manufactured by the O. S. Kelly Company. 

We do all of the labor on the farm by machinery of the lat- 
est pattern. There is a happy combination of brain and brawn, 
and through the union the labor of the sunburnt sons of toil is 
lessened and the farm is made a pleasure. From being the mud- 
sill of society, the farmer of today steps to the front, the peer of 
any who follow another calling or profession that men are en- 
gaged in for a living. From our own firesides we converse with 
parties in all parts of the county. By ringing the bell, pressing 
the button, or pulling the string, we feed and water the stock 
upon the farm. As it were, we ride in chariots of fire to church 
and market. The electric road has joined the city and farm so 
close that the ideas advanced in the book entitled "Looking Back- 
ward" are already superceded. Today the farm area of the 
county is 245,487 acres. The tax valuation of the same is 
$8,877,428. 

There are now under cultivation 192,967 acres. There are 
21,702 acres in meadow and pasture, 30,818 acres are in meadow 
land. Our annual products, according to the assessors' returns^ 
are as follows: Wheat, 853,080 bushels; corn, 2,716,325 bush- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 231 

els; oats, 447,183 bushels; Irish potatoes, 51,175 bushels; sweet 
potatoes, 2.394 bushels; hay, 18,000 tons; tobacco, 265,860 
pounds; broom corn, 15.640 povmds ; milk sold for family use, 
470.745 o-allons ; butter sold. 515,233 pounds; eggs sold, 595,438 
dozen ; grapes sold. 65,890 pounds ; apples, 9,979 bushels ; number 
of horses in the county. 6,017; number of cattle in the county, 
19,465; number of hogs in the county, 16,286; number of sheep 
in the county, 29,995. The assessed value of live stock is $1,171,- 
500. From the rude implements used by the early settlers of the 
county we passed through all the various steps of improvement 
until today every farm in the county is well supplied with modern 
machinery of the most approved pattern. All the agricultural in- 
terests of the county compare favorably with that of any other 
county in the State. As a rule our farmers and their families are 
contented and happy, a reasonable prosperity prevails throughout 
the county. 

We will not weary your patience by recounting the trials and 
hardships endured, nor the victories won, by the agriculturists of 
the county during the past century. The real pioneer farmers of 
the county have all been gathered to their fathers, and their im- 
mediate successors will soon, very soon, be remembred only by 
the impress of their characters upon the history of our county. 
That they lived not in vain, we need only point to the proud con- 
dition of our times. A few more years and the last living tie 
that binds the honored memories of the past to the living present 
will be no more. Like the leaves of autumn, they are fast falling 
around us, and soon they will be known only by the fragments of 
their civilization, secured and preserved in the archives of your 
Historical Society. 

And now, in the bright light of the twentieth century, let us 
pause for a moment and think of the feats of war and the tri- 
umphs of peace that have been secured during the period of his- 
tory we have under consideration. They are indeed such as no 
dreamer ever could portray ; yea, the prophecy of the wisest 
could not have foretold it. Notwithstanding the complaint of the 
chronic grumbler, our people today are fed and clothed as no 
other people in the world. Xever in the history of nations was 
there such wealth found among the people, or such magnificent 



232 CENTENNIAL OP 

privileges enjoyed. Our children are educated in the best 
schools in the land, while our people are permitted to worship the 
true and living God in the best equipped churches on the face of 
the earth, and no one dares to molest or make them afraid. The 
news of the day is carried on the wings of lightning to every 
village in the land. The railroad permeates every part of the 
country, connects the two great oceans, and binds every State in 
the Union with a band of steel. The depths of the Atlantic have 
been made a whispering gallery, and today the glad tidings of 
freedom are sounded in the ears of eighty millions of contented 
and happy people, and long before the present generation passes 
away the electric current will be carrying messages of joy and 
sorrow, and be doing the errands of trade for a hundred million 
of human souls. Towns and proud cities are springing up all 
over our land as if by magic. The fairy stories of the Arabian 
Nights do not equal the realities of the present. The desert is 
made to bloom, while the husbandman rejoices in the cattle that 
feed upon the plains and hills ; our national channels of trade are 
made white with the commerce of the nation. All over this fa^"r 
county of Clark, happy homes decorate the hill tops and beautify 
the valleys, and in these homes virtue sits enthroned, the proud 
mistress of the heart's greatest joy, and the soul's purest sun- 
shine. And from the rural homes of the land come ninety per 
cent of the men and wvomen who are moving the religious, polit- 
ical and commercial world today.' In view of such a wonderful 
history of the past, what may we hope for the future? We can 
only hint at the possibilities that rise up to bless the years as they 
pass by. And now, at the close of the first century of our exist- 
ence as a city, we are lost in amazement as we look into the fu- 
ture and see the marvelous and boundless prospects that appear 
upon the horizon to bless the generations yet unborn. And yet 
we are only on the threshold of an existence as a nation. Are the 
victories over, the triumphs all won, or are we not to go on and 
gain grander and greater victories as the years roll on? Aly 
friends, knowledge is to be the key by which the future genera- 
tions are to unlock the hidden secrets of nature. Here we rest, 
our minds all too finite to comprehend or measure the results 
that are growing out of the structure that our fathers erected 
here in the wilderness, one hundred years ago. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 233 




T. J. CREAGER. 



HISTORY OF THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS OF 
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



BY T. J. CREAGER. 



Labor Omnia Vincit. 

When James Demint, in 1801, selected the site upon which 
to erect his log cabin, he founded what was destined to be one of 
the greatest manufacturing and industrial cities of our great 
country. This pioneer settler could not have imagined the won- 
derful changes which have been wrought since he was the only 
inhabitant. Could he awake and view Springfield today, and note 
what wonderful progress has been made during this period, his 
astonishment would equal that of the leading character of Ed- 
ward Bellamy's famous book, "Looking Backward," who was 
aroused from a sleep of one hundred years to see the city of Bos- 
ton. In no direction has greater progress been made in Spring- 
field than in its manufacturing interests. During this first one 
hundred 3-ears of our existence as a city, factory after factory has 
been built, which, with the assistance of the well-known high 
mechanical ability of Springfield's nvorkmen, have manufactured 
products which now reach every civilized portion of the earth, 
and have made Springfield known throughout the entire world as 



234 CENTENNIAL OF 

a city whose products in the Hne of manufacture in which it en- 
gages are unexcelled. It is universally admitted that the condi- 
tion of any community is reflected by the condition of its wage- 
earners. While Springfield has been so wonderfully progressive 
in an industrial sense, the proportion in which its working people 
have contributed to its advancement should not be overlooked. 
Without competent labor our city could not have progressed. 
Without competent labor nothing can be accomplished. In the 
words of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, "Capital is the fruit of 
labor and could not exist if labor had not first existed. Labor, 
therefore, deserves much the higher consideration." 

This city numbers among its most substantial citizens some 
of the men who have for a greater or less period of time worked 
daily stipulated hours for a stipulated wage in the manufacturing 
and other concerns of the city. To fully appreciate this fact, one 
has but to witness one of the annual Labor Day celebrations given 
in this city on the first Monday in September. It has often been 
remarked by persons who have witnessed these celebrations, 
"Springfield should be proud of her workingmen." 

While the conditions which surround the wage-earners in 
our city are not just what they should be, still considerable im- 
provement has been made, and steady improvement is hoped for 
and expected in the future. That the conditions wdiich now ob- 
tain are as good as they are, can be attributed in a great measure 
to the work, educational and otherwise, of the labor organizations. 
These unions, formed primarily with the object of advancing 
their members intellectually, socially, morally and financially, 
have certainly accomplished a great deal toward elevating the 
workingmen and their families to the station in life which they 
should properly occupy. 

Better wages, shorter hours, Saturday half-holidays, and bet- 
ter working conditions generally have resulted from their efforts, 
to say nothing of the education of the members on questions on 
which all should be informed, for it is admitted by those familiar 
with the subject that the trades union is one of the best intellectual 
training schools in existence. 

The Commissioner of Labor of the State of New York says : 
"It is clear that the working people of the State have reaped in- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 235 

numerable benefits through the influence of the associations de- 
voted to their interests. Wages have been increased ; working 
time reduced ; the membership rolls have been largely augmented ; 
distressed members have received pecuniary relief ; general con- 
ditions have been improved and labor has been elevated to a 
higher position in the social scale." 

While the efforts of the labor unions in this city have re- 
sulted in great benefit to the members of the organizations, these 
benefits have not been confined to them exclusively. The effects 
of their work have been felt and enjoyed also by those who have 
not held membership, nor contributed financially, or devoted their 
time to the work of making these efl'orts successful. When the 
trades union succeeds in securing something of benefit to its mem- 
bership, these same benefits must naturally accrue to the entire 
craft, including those who are not members of the organization. 

Previous to 1864 there was no organization of labor in Clark 
County. In the light of subsequent events this seems to have 
been due to the fact that the industrial conditions prevailing were 
entirely satisfactory. With the increase of population and the 
ever-changing methods of production and distribution, natural 
opportunities were lessened and competition grew fiercer and 
fiercer between investors on the one hand and wage-eaniers on 
the other, developing into a struggle of capital against capital 
and labor against labor. 

Capital, to protect and advance its interests, organized ; for 
the same purpose its example was quickly followed by intelligent 
labor. Today we have on the one side an almost complete organ- 
ization of employers in the various branches of industry, on the 
other, countless organizations of labor. The organization of only 
one of these forces would mean disaster and ruin to the other, 
therefore the organization of both is necessary to the success of 
each, and to conserve justly the rights of all. 

Organization promotes higher civilization ; individualism is 
maintained, and the strong come to respect the weak. Our Re- 
public exemplifies the merits of co-operation advocated by organ- 
ized labor. Uncle Sam has been a union man for one hundred 
and twenty-five years. Without the co-operation of the States^ 
this greatest of nations could not exist. No one who understands 



286 CENTENNIAL OP 

our form oi ^-ovcnmu'iit wnuKl cxclumi;!.' il for any other. No 
claim is made lliat i)crfccti('ii has I)ocn reached in cinuUietini;- in- 
dustrial affairs, hut throui^h orijani/ation a more perfect and 
equitable condition will be brougjht about. As rapidly as all come 
to realize the breadth and depth of a just economic condition, the 
advocates of an ine(|uitahle system of production and distrilMition 
will. ba]ipil\', lirow less. Keputable concerns will avoid those 
who, h\ attemptini;' to maiiUain a coiulitiiMi of reiluced consump- 
tion, seek to destroy all in the hope oi selfish _<;ain. 

\Mien it is understood that short hours, and waives based on 
the \ahie o\ the thin;;- produced will mean steady and profitable 
employment and enable the consiuncr to buy back the product he 
has created to the extent of that which is bis just portion, thus 
increasing" consumi)ti(Mi, then really sound business metlunls will 
be understood and prevail universally. Many years of educa- 
tional work may be necessary to secure a practical understanding 
of these principles. The labor organizations are seeking to do 
their share in this direction. It is a school for the workers while, 
in the meantime, they are endeavoring to secure a suibcient com- 
pensation and conditii>ns that will enable them to li\e comfort- 
ably. 

The histor\- oi the labor movement in Springfield is very in- 
teresting, and a paper of this nature is entirely inadecjuate to a 
proper treatment of the subject ; however, a review of its work 
as comprehensive as possible will be attempted. 

LIST OF ITNIONS. 

Beginning with 1864, the following labor organizations have 

been instituted, in the order named, in the city of Springfield: 

1864 — March. Iron IMolders' l^nion. No. 72. 

1868— September t. Typographical ITnion, No. it;. Reorgan- 
ized July 28, i88j. 

i^^T, — March 25. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, San- 
dusky Division, No. 208. 

1883— April 9. Mad River Assembly, K. of L., No. 2582. 

1885— June 22. Tailors' Assembly, K. of L., No. 3980. 

1885 — October 12. Champion City Assembly, K. of L., No. 4351. 

1886 — January i. Lagonda Assembly, K. of L., No. 4894. 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 23T 

ig86 — Jannar)' 4. Ceniiania Assembly, 1\. of L., No. 4903. 
1886 — January 8. Phoenix Assembly. K. of L., No. 4950. 
1886 — January 15. Excelsior Assembly, K. of L., No. 5007. 
1886 — February 13. Iron Workers' Assembly, K. of L., No. 5815. 
1886 — March 1. Western Assembly. K. of L., x\o. 5816. 
1886 — June 7. Cio-ar Makers' Assembly. K. of L., No. 7825. 
1886 — September u. District Assembly, K. of L., No. 178. 
1886 — January 13. journeymen I'akers and Confectioners, No. 

1)4. Reorganized September 11. 1900. 
1887 — June 26. r>rotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Lodge 360. 
1887 — December u. Cigar Makers' Union, No. 45. 
1889 — October 8. bricklayers and Masons. No. 25. 
1889 — April 2. Brotherhood of Carpenters and joiners. Xo. 284. 

Reorganized ii)OT, .April 2. New number dtxx 
1890 — January i. Trades and Labor Assembly. 
1890 — June 16. Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators. Xo. 167- 
1890 — .\pril J. T^nirneymen P.arbers, No. 26. 
1890 — December tj. Retail Clerks' National Protective Associa- 
tion, No. 190. 
1890 — June 30. National l>n>therhood of Boiler Makers. No. 10. 

Reorganized March 3. i8()5. Xo. 18. 
1891 — Januar\- !(>. Iniernational Association oi .Machinists. 

Lodge 148. Reorganized ALay 14. iS*)8. 
1891 — Xewspaper lunjiloyes' Cnion (kHraO. 
1891 — September 28. 1 lod C'arriers' Pinion. Incorporated under 

laws of the State of (^hio. 
1891 — June. P>rotherhood of Brass Workers. 
i8gi — Switchmen's .Mutual .\'u\ Association, Lodge 125. 
1892 — Car Inspectors' and Repairers' Association. 
1892 — Building Trades Council. 

1892 — April 3. Order oi l\ailwa\- Conductors, Division j!,2i.). 
1892 — Quarrymen and Limelnirners. Cold Springs Lotlge. Re- 
organized i8(;(). under .\. F. of L. 
1892 — Teamsters' Union (liKal). Reorganized and chartered I>\ 

the International l^nion. March, u)00. Xo. 124. 
1892 — Laborers' Union (local). 

1892 — .\ugust 1. Journeymen Tailors' Union, No. 203. 
1892 — Shoemakers' and Repairers' Union (local). 



238 • CENTENNIAL OF 

1892 — November i. Journeymen Plumbers'.. Gas Fitters', Steam 

Fitters' and Steam Fitters' Helpers' Union, No. 97. 
1892 — October i. National League of Musicians, No. 64. 
1892 — Coal Drivers' Union (local). 

1893 — April I. Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers' Interna- 
tional Association, No. 91. 
1893 — January. Printing Pressmen's Union, No. 25. 
1893— Machine Wood Workers' International. 
1894 — Journeymen Stone Cutters' Association. 
1895 — September 15. Press Feeders' Union, No. 7. 
1896 — March 21. Theatrical Stage Employes' Union, No. 34. 
1896 — Cktober 4. Brewery Workers' Union, No. 45. 
1896 — Journeymen Horse Shoers' Union, No. 76. 
1896 — International Association of Plasterers (operative), No. 22. 
1897 — February 10. Boot and Shoe Workers' Union, No. 139. 
1898 — June 8. Coremakers' International Union. 
1898 — November 25. Metal Polishers', Bufifers', Platers' and 

Brass Workers' Union, No. 102. 
1899 — April 13. Brotherhood of Trainmen, Lodge 573. 
1899 — July 21. Metal Chippers' Protective Union, No. 7446. 
1900 — August 23. Suspender Workers' Union, No. 8618. 
1900 — November i. Shirt, Waist and Laundry Workers' Union, 

No. 34. 
1900 — April 24. Amalgamated Association of Street Railway 

• Employes, Division 146. 
1901 — May 14. Stereotypers' and Electrotypers' Union, No. 55. 
1901 — May 8. Machinists' Helpers' Union, No. 9102. 
1901 — August. American Federation of Musicians, No. 160. 

A total of sixty organizations. 

To give even a brief history of each organization would oc- 
cupy much time and seem but a repetition, therefore the history 
•of several of the older unions will be presented, which will, in a 
general way, cover the history of all. 

HOLDERS. 

Iron Molders' Union, No. 72, of Springfield, was organized 
in the month of March, 1864, with twenty-two charter members, 
and started on her course with John H. Blakeney, President; 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 239 

Isaac Stewart, Vice-President : William Sykes, Recording- Secre- 
tary ; John Morrison, Financial Secretary ; James Ludlow, Cor- 
responding- Representative ; John L. Jayne, Treasurer ; William 
Hope, Doorkeeper. Many of the members on the old charter list 
are still alive, and speak with pride of the good that was accom- 
plished in many ways by the organization. Many are well-known 
and respected citizens, some having held positions of prominence 
and trust, others have successfully engaged in business, while a 
few are still in the "sand heap." In the list are found the well- 
known names of William Irvin, for years foreman at Whiteley, 
Fassler & Kelly's, afterward at the Wickham & Chapman Com- 
pany ; Timothy Hennessy, foreman for thirty-five years at James 
Leffel & Company's, afterward at the Leffel Wheel and Engine 
Company and the Trump Manufacturing Company ; William 
Shaw, foreman at Rinehart, Ballard & Company and the Spring- 
field Engine and Thresher Company ; Fred Zigler and John Mor- 
rison, at the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company ; James 
Blakeney, foreman at the New Champion Shops for years, after- 
ward at the Blakeney Foundr}^ Company ; John Shewalter, City 
Clerk for years, and now with the Springfield Gas Company ; 
Fred Schuchman, Chief of Police for a number of years and until 
liis death ; William Knox, foreman at the Thomas Manufacturing 
Company ; William Hope, at the Spring-field Brass Company ; 
James Hennessy, Richard Parker, Primrose Harley, James Lud- 
low, David Shannon, Jacob Shannon, Morgan Shieler and Daniel 
Hughes, the last named being still at the trade and an active mem- 
ber of No. ^2. Among- other good deeds done by the union at 
that time was the purchase of a lot in Ferncliff Cemetery for the 
burial of indigent brothers. The lot is still held and marked with 
the graves of two brothers. New lots have been secured in St. 
Raphael's and Calvary Cemeteries. 

The panic of 1872 forced many of the members out of the 
city, and the charter was finally returned. The spirit of union- 
ism did not remain dormant long, and. Phoenix-like, No. 72 was 
again soon re-established. In the reorganization, which occurred 
January, 1878, the following- officers were elected : Thomas 
Digan, President ; William Lobaugh, Vice-President ; Louis 
Luibel. Recording Secretary ; Charles Lobaugh, Financial Secre- 



240 CENTENNIAL OF 

tary ; D. I. Otstott, Corresponding Representative ; John Lynch, 
Treasurer. Headquarters of the National Organization had 
changed from Philadelphia to Cincinnati, and the officers were 
William Saffin, President, and Martin F. Hayburn, Secretary- 
Treasurer. The local union paid about $4,000 for sick and fu- 
neral benefits up to 1896, when this feature was incorporated in 
the National body. Since 1896 the members of No. ']2 have 
drawn sick benefits from the International to the amount of sev- 
enteen hundred dollars. The number of local unions at present 
is 374 ; roll of membership, 52,000. A sick benefit of $5 per week 
is paid. For this purpose $340,600 have been paid to June 30, 
1901. Out-of-work benefits for the same period of time have 
amounted to $23,631. Members who pay their dues promptly 
W'hile working, have their dues paid when idle from the out-of- 
work relief fund. When out on a sanctioned strike for better 
conditions or against a reduction of wages, members receive $7 a 
week. A death benefit of $100 is paid within thirty days after 
death, by the International, and an additional $50 after five years' 
continuous membership, while nearly all local unions add $50 to 
this amount. 

The present officers of the local are : E. F. O'Brien, Presi- 
dent; William Warren, Vice-Presidjpnt ; H, A, Gnau, Recording- 
Secretary ; Joseph Merkle, Corresponding Representative ; Charles 
Haerr, Financial Secretary ; John Spichety, Treasurer. 

The employers' organizations are : Stove Plate IMolders' De- 
fense Association, National Foundrymen's Association, and the 
American, the last recently formed. By an agreement existing 
between these organizations and the International Molders' 
Union, all disputes must be heard by a committee representing 
each of these organizations — a plan that has been very successful, 
and one that could wath profit be employed by all. 

TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION^ NO. W] . 

The second trade union formed in Springfield was the Typo- 
graphical Union, No. 117, September i, 1868. The charter was 
issued by what was then known as the old National Typographical 
Union. The charter members were: J. H. Campbell, Frederick 
Meakin, T. E. Harwood, Nine Wartenbe, E. H. Osborne, W. T. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 241 

Brown and W. O. Meade. The names of the National officers 
attached to this charter were: R. M. Kechnec, President, and 
John Colhns, Secretary and Treasurer. Two of the charter mem- 
bers, T. E. Harwood and Wilham C). Meade, are still actively en- 
gaged in the printing business, the former having established and 
successfully conducted the business of the Harwood Printing and 
Publishing Company, publishers of the Daily Ga::ette, while Mr. 
Meade has for sixteen years been an employe of the New Era 
Company. The membership seldom .exceeded tw^elve or fifteen, 
and only through the efforts of Mr. Harwood and several others 
was the union maintained for even its short life. In June, 1869, 
the name National Typographical Union, which was instituted in 
May, 1852, was changed to International Typographical Union.. 
After a brief and uneventful career the local organization ceased 
to exist. 

July 28, 1882, the union was reorganized. Thomas M. Proc- 
tor, since deceased, and W. A. Martin, now one of the directors 
of the Crowell & Kirkpatrick Company, w^ere the most active in 
forming the organization. Mr. Martin at that time w\is a mem- 
ber of the Dayton Union, and bears the distinction of l)eing the 
only member holding a card. Mr. Proctor had formerly been a 
member, but had allowed his membership to lapse. The first pre- 
liminary meeting was held on Thursday evening, July 6, 1882, in 
'Squire J. J. Smith's office, in the Kizer Block, East Main street, 
with A. F. Poysell as chairman and Jacob Geiser, secretary. But 
seven signatures being required to procure a charter, it was de- 
cided to draw^ lots, the seven successful contestants to constitute a 
committee to make application for a charter. The drawing named 
T. M. Proctor, W. A. .Martin, Ralph Wetmore. W. H. Warner, 
R. W. Poling, J. II. Bennett and \\\ H. Newcomer. The Inter- 
national officers signing the charter were George Clark, President, 
and Mark L. Crawford, Secretary and Treasurer. Permanent 
organization was efifected August 2, under charter granted to 
Springfield Typographical Union, No. 117, and the following 
officers were elected : President, W. A. Alartin ; Vice-President^ 
T. ]\I. Proctor; Recording and Corresponding Secretary, S. P. 
Behrends; Financial Secretary. Jacob Geiser; Treasurer, Upton 
Elifritz; Sergeant-at-Arms. J. II. Pennett. 



242 CENTENNIAL OF 

During the nineteen years of its existence, meeting places 
have been in Fried's Hall, Thomas Building, above 22 South 
Fountain avenue ; Commercial Building, South Limestone street ; 
Leitschuch Building, East Main street, and finally in the Johnson 
Building, West Main street, the present location. At present, and 
for many years past, the union has held its regular meeting on the 
first Monday evening of each month. The first scale of prices 
was adopted April 5, 1884. The first committee selected to draft 
a scale of prices consisted of W. A. Martin, W. E. Bratton, J. S. 
Reed, E. S. Ralph and A. G. Linn. The most notable amend- 
ments to the scale are : October 4, 1886, an increase of 12 1-2 per 
cent was asked ; after considerable discussion the matter was left 
to arbitration, and the Arbitration Committee, composed of W. R. 
Calhoon for the employers, Daniel Derrickson for the union, and 
Henry Davis, chosen by these two, decided in favor of the in- 
crease. December 2, 1899, an increase of 11 1-9 per cent was 
asked, and granted without any difficulty. June 4, 1894, a reduc- 
tion in the hours from ten to nine a day, with a corresponding re- 
duction in wages. Since 1900 the International has established 
the nine-hour day throughout the United States and Canada. 
October 2, 1899, an increase to the wages formerly paid for ten 
hours. February 5, 1900, all piece work was abolished. Present 
scale of prices : Day work, per week, foreman $17, assistant fore- 
man $16, compositors $15, machine operators $18; night work, 
foreman $21, assistant foreman $18, compositors $18, machine 
operators $21. 

The practice of paying employes in orders for merchandise 
became so detrimental to the craft that a resolution abolishing it 
was passed October 6, 1890. 

The first local constitution adopted contained a clause provid- 
ing for a death benefit of $25, to be paid from the local treasury. 
August 5, 1889, this was stricken out, the International having 
created a death benefit fund, now paying sixty-five dollars to a 
deceased member's heirs. 

Two members have taken advantage of the opportunities for 
restoration to health atTorded by the Childs-Drexel Home for 
Union Printers, at Colorado Springs, Colorado. F. L. Seward 
was admitted to the Home in September, 1893. and again in May, 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 243 

1895 ; C. E. Gulick, January 5, 1900. This Home is built on a 
■grant of eighty acres of land within one mile of Colorado Springs, 
deeded by the Board of Trade of that city. 

One of the greatest epochs in the history of the art preserva- 
tive of all arts was the introduction of a successful type-setting 
and type-casting machine, the latter proving the most satisfactory. 
The first put in were two type— setting machines at the Hostcrman 
Publishing Company, July, 1894, In April, 1896, a type-casting 
machine was put in the office of the Sun Publishing Company 
(another one has since been added). The Crowell & Kirkpatrick 
Company put in two in September, 1896. The Daily Democrat 
and Daily Gazette each have one, the New Era Company one, and 
the Springfield Publishing Company three — a total of ten Mer- 
genthaler type-casting machines. Many were fearful that the 
advent of the machine would compel a number to seek a liveli- 
hood in other fields of labor in a short time. Such was not the 
result. No. 117 met the problem in a business-like way. Con- 
trary to the views of the pessimists, the machine has not been a 
detriment to the craft in this city or elsewhere. It has proven a 
great stimulus to the printing business, and the amount of excel- 
lent printed matter that can ^De procured for little money is noth- 
ing short of wonderful to many people. 

As early as August 17, 1882, a committee consisting of T. AI. 
Proctor, J. H. Bennett, B. F. Redd and Upton Elifritz was ap- 
pointed by the union to investigate the advisability of organizing 
a Trades Assembly in Springfield; and again, December 3, 1885, 
the committee being Jacob Geiser, J. W. Osbon and T. J. Creager. 
From the date of the founding of the Trades and Labor Assembly 
in 1890, the delegates from Typographical Union have been 
among its most active workers. The first delegates were : J. F. 
Funk, Felix Seward, W. S. Mannington. Ralph \\'etmore, R. W. 
Poling and T. J. Creager. 

Those familiar with the conditions prevailing before the or- 
ganization of the craft in this city now appreciate the wisdom of 
the movement. Not only have the wages of the employe ad- 
vanced from time to time, but the condition of the printing busi- 
ness has as a matter of course continually improved. Before the 
union was formed men were receiving- from five to ten dollars a 



244 CENTENNIAL OF 

week, they now coinmand fifteen dollars and upward a week ; 
while poor prices for advertising and job work obtained, owing" 
to the exasperating competition which existed, now prices rule 
higher and the opportunities for destructive competition are 
greatly reduced, as each competitor knows the cost of the most 
important item — labor. There are four daily newspapers and 
fourteen book and job offices in the city. 

CIGAR MAKERS. 

Cigar Makers' Union, No. 45, was instituted in this city De- 
cember 12, 1887. The first officers were: John A. Ritzert, Presi- 
dent ; John J. Eisen, Vice-President ; Charles Euphrat, Jr., 
Recording Secretary ; E. Gunckel, Corresponding Secretary ; J. 
H. ]\lcLaughlin, Financial Secretary; Alvin Gladfelter, Treasurer. 
Previous to the organization of the union, cigar manufacturing in 
Springfield had not been successfully carried on, due mainly to 
the fact that outside firms controlled the trade. The ceaseless 
agitation conducted by the union in the interest of union-made 
cigars gradually increased the demand for the home product, 
which were manuactured by Newell Brothers, Stelzer & Kloeb, 
and Charles Euphrat. Later the firm of Johnson & Son was es- 
tablished. This firm employed on an average, previous to 1896, 
about forty-five cigar makers, and on one occasion, when a large 
contract was being filled, a force of about one hundred and fifty 
was employed. This firm always employed members of the Cigar 
Makers' Union, and during this period mutually harmonious and 
profitable relations existed. This policy was changed February 
13, 1897. All of the manufacturers in the city, except one, which 
has recently located here, employ only members of the union. 
During the thirteen years of the local union's existence wages 
have been increased without any trouble, and conditions generally 
improved, and the eight-hour day maintained. 

No. 45 has always been a leader in labor affairs. Its mem- 
bers were the prime movers in the organization of the Trades and 
Labor Assembly and other local unions. Their practical and per- 
sistent efforts in pushing their blue label, wdiich is placed upon all 
boxes containing cigars that are union made, has brought it to the 
attention of the entire public. Many of its members have held 
important and responsible positions in the Trades Assembly. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 245 

THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 

^'That is the most perfect Governnicnt in zvhich an injnry to one 
is the concern of all." 

Throui^h the efforts of members of the Molders' and Typo- 
graphical Unions the Knights of Labor movement was inaugu- 
rated in Springfield by the organization of Mad River Assembly, 
No. 2582, April 9, 1883. The charter list contained seventy-one 
names. The various labor papers at that time commented on the 
fact that this was the largest Knights of Labor Assembly ever in- 
stituted in the West. Among the charter members were : George 
W. Osborn, T. B. Manning, Charles F. Steck, Newton Steck. E. 
S. Ralph, Edward Crowley, Anthony Gallagher, Charles ^lills, 
J. C, Routzahn, Keller Routzahn, R. W. Poling, T. J. Creager, 
Frank Printz. S. P. Behrends, T. G. Swickheimer, W. L. Girard, 
E. C. Shirey, James Kizer, Albert Hohl, A. Cretors, Charles 
■Quigley, Jacob Geiser, Thomas Johnson, Peter Koefge. 

The first officers were : Mlaster Workman, Charles F. Steck ; 
Worthy Foreman, William Troy ; Venerable Sage, T. B. Man- 
ning ; Recording Secretary, Jacob Geiser ; Financial Secretary, 
Charles Quigley ; Treasurer, George W. Osborn ; Worthy Inspec- 
tor, D. Reagan ; Almoner. O. Smith ; Statistician, F. J. Town ; 
Unknown Knight, E. C. Shirey ; Inside Esquire, Thomas Swick- 
heimer ; Outside Esquire. John Linkenhoker. 

For nearly two years the Assembly prospered. Early in 1885 
the membership, which had reached nearly two hundred, had de- 
creased to less than fifty, and it was a struggle for the small band 
to hold the body together. In the fall of 1885 the tide turned in 
favor of the organization, and for several years greater activity in 
organization work was experienced than ever known before or 
since. 

Up to June, 1886, the following Assemblies had been insti- 
tuted: Journeymen Tailors', No. 3980; Champion City, No. 4351 ; 
Lagonda, No. 4894; Germania, *No. 4903; Phoenix, No. 4950; 
Excelsior, No. 5007; Iron Workers', No. 5815; Western, No. 
5816 ; Cigar Makers', No. 7825 — making a total of ten local As- 
semblies with a membership of more than two thousand. 

The necessitv for closer relations and concerted action led to 



246 CENTENNIAL OF 

the formation of a central body, and on September 5, 1886, a 
number responded to a call which resulted in the organization of 
District Assembly, No. 178: I. F. AIcDonald, W. A. Hance, E. M. 
Crumley, R. W. Poling and T. J. Creager, Mad River Assembly; 
Thomas Welsh, Tailors' Assembly ; James E. Carey, O. J. Paul 
and H. L. Hotchkiss, Champion City Assembly Joseph Hruza^ 
and Marzell Hofer, Germania Assembly ; S. G. Jones and A. B, 
Spielman, Phoenix Assembly; John M. Hauer and J. M. Pence, 
Iron Workers' Assembly ; Frank J. Buchanan, Western Assem- 
bly ; George J. Snell, Cigar Makers' Assembly. 

By 1890 the Knights of Labor, which had become an inter- 
national movement, began to wane, and nearly all the local As- 
semblies in Springfield had lapsed. Mad River Assembly, No.. 
2582, was organized April, 1883, and continued in existence until 
the fall of 1896, a period of nearly fourteen years. Champion 
City Assembly, No. 4351, was the next oldest, and during its ex- 
istence was an active rival of old j\Iad River in initiating and 
carr>'ing out plans for agitation and educational work and social 
features. 

During the years 1886 and 1887, when the ten local assem- 
blies and the District Assembly were enjoying their greatest pros- 
perity, great interest was aroused in the study of industrial and 
economic questions. Many speakers of prominence and of Na- 
tional reputation were secured and addressed public meetings, and 
the circulation of literature was extensively conducted. No 
strikes or difficulties, except the unfortunate trouble in March, 
1886, in which about 1,500 men were involved in a lockout, oc- 
curred. Relations between employer and employe were harmoni- 
ous. The Knights of Labor finally closed their existence in- 
Springfield in 1896. 

TRADES AND LABOR ASSEMBLY. 

In January, 1890, the Cigar Makers' Union appointed a com- 
mittee to visit all the labor organizations and recjuest each to ap- 
point a committee of three to represent them at a meeting to be 
held in their hall, on the comer of Center and Main streets, Janu- 
ary 26, 1890. The request was complied with, and on that date 
the following were present: Cigar Makers' L^nion, No. 45, Johix 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 247 

Roth. E. J. Mattox. \V. W. Abell ; Typos^raphical Union, No. 1 17, 
Frank Funk, J. C. Heckman. Felix Seward ; Iron Aloklers' Union, 
No. 72, P. G. Griffin, J. C. Routzahn, David Myers; Carpenter 
and Joiners" Brotherhoock No. 284, J. D. Reeder, B. F. Conklyn, 
M. V. B. :\Iillcr; Bricklayers' and Masons' Union, No. 25, Joseph 
Griffin, Geors^e Kcrshner; Mad River Assembly, K. of L., No. 
258^ W A^Hance, Frank S. Eagle, T. J. Creager; Champion 
Citv Assembly, K. of L., No. 435i, P- J- Miilhearn, James R. 
Keily. The following officers were selected: W. A. Hance, 
Chairman; T. J. Creager, Recording Secretary and Treasurer; 
John Roth, Sergeant-at-Arms. The purpose of the meeting was 
to effect a delegate body to study and discuss subjects of interest 
to the working people, and to procure public speakers from time 
to time. This meeting marked the beginning of the Trades and 
Labor Assembly. On March 2, 1890, Springfield Trades and 
Labor Assembly, with seven bodies represented, formed a perma- 
nent organization by electing the following officers: President, 
David L. Elvers, Molders; \'ice-President, John Patton, Carpen- 
ters ; Recorciing Secretary, T. J. Creager, Mad River Assembly ; 
Corresponding Secretary, J. C. Heckman, Typographical Union ; 
iMuancial Secretary, Felix Seward, Typographical Union ; Treas- 
urer, W. A. Hance, Mad River Assembly. 

T. V. Powderly, Grand Master Workman of the Knights of 
Labor, was secured, and addressed a public meeting at the City 
Hall. March 18. 1890. ^^layor Burnett presided at the meeting. 

The Constitution and By-Laws were adopted :\Iarch 30. The 
following is the preamlile : 

lllicrcas, The necessity for unity of action among the work- 
ing classes o/this citv has been fully demonstrated, and believing 
sudi unitv of action can be best accomplished by an organization 
composed of delegates selected by tb.e various Trade and Labor 
Organizations ; and. 

Whereas, Unity, guided by intelligence, is a source of 
strength, and enables us to concentrate and direct our efforts 
toward the desired end. and acquire the patience which enables us 
to wait for results ; 

Therefore, For the purpose of promoting unity of sentiment 
and action, and that spirit of fraternity that should exist among 



248 CENTENNIAL OF 

all organizations, The Trades and Labor Assembly of Spring'field 
and Vicinity has been organized, and consists of delegates from 
such regular Trade and Labor Organizations of Springfield and 
Vicinity as shall endorse the Constitution and By-Laws contained 
herein, and pledge themselves to use their utmost efforts to secure, 
by every legitimate means within their power, the benefits that 
will accrue through intelligent co-operation with each other on all 
matters affecting the interest of Labor. 

Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of 
Labor, and W. H. Kliver, First Vice-President of the Carpenters' 
and Joiners' Brotherhood, addressed the second public meeting at 
the City Hall. C. M. Nichols presided. 

Some of the speakers since have been : Hon. Ralph Beau- 
mont, Rev. M, C. Lockwood,, J. G. Galloway, Mrs. Mary L. Geffs, 
Hon. John McBride, Miss Eva Valesh, M. W. Wilkins, Mrs. 
Luther, P. J. McGuire, Father McGlynn, W. D. Mahon, Rev. 
Herbert N. Casson, Eugene V. Debs (twice), IMayor Jones of 
Toledo, Father McGrady, and others, from abroad. ^Nlany times 
local speakers have favored the Assembly, among whom have 
been : Rev. S. P. Dunlap, R. S. Thompson, Rev. C. W. Barnes, 
Hon. James Johnson, Jr., Dr. R. B. House, Professor Carey Bog- 
gess, W. A. Martin, Dr. Seys, and others. During the seasons of 
1900 and 1901, Professor Charles Zueblin, of the Chicago Univer- 
sity, was secured and delivered two courses of six lectures each. 
The subject of the first course was "Phases of British Municipal 
Life," and of the second, "American Municipal Progress."- Pro- 
fessor Zueblin's lectures were illustrated with stereopticon views. 
All of these lectures were free to the public, which has shown its 
appreciation of this popular method of education by large attend- 
ance. In providing public lectures from time to time the Assem- 
bly has remained steadfast to its original purpose. Among other 
things, the Assembly has taken an active interest in civic aft'airs. 

In 1890 and 1891, the Assembly, by every means in its power, 
agitated in favor of the Australian system of voting, and in Janu- 
ary and April, 1891, petitioned the Legislature to enact the Mallon 
Ballot Reform Bill, also for the bill creating the State Board of 
Arbitration, and the law preventing the employment of hired Pin- 
kertons or armed bodies of men. It rejoices in the recognition 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 249 

•the State has given to the requests of organized labor in creating 
"the departments of Inspection of \\'orkshops, Factories and Pub- 
He Buildings and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When the 
street railway corporations of the State sought to secure the pas- 
sage by the Legislature of the ninety-nine-year franchise bill, the 
Assembly co-operated with organized labor throughout the State 
to prevent tlie passage of this measure. It was defeated. The 
present Cigarette License Law was advocated by it and secured 
by the untiring work of State Senator Plummer. 

One of the most bitterly contested measures that came before 
the Legislature was the bill requiring street car companies to ves- 
tibule the front platforms of their cars, primarily for the protec- 
tion of the motormen. The railway companies did everything in 
their power to prevent the passage of this measure, known as 
Senate Bill No. i86. Trades and Labor Assembly, representing 
•organized labor of Springfield, united with organized labor of the 
State in a movement to secure its passage. Public interest was 
awakened; press and pulpit discussed the merits of the bill, and 
their influence and power was largely responsible for its passage 
by the Seventieth General Assembly in 1893. 

In 1890 the Trades and Labor Assembly began to observe 
Labor Day, and has continued the custom to the satisfaction of all. 
It is attended with parades, in which all classes and employments 
join ; it presents entertaining and instructive speakers for the day, 
and furnishes various amusements for the entertainment of those 
present. Its purpose is to emphasize the place of labor, and to 
make the laborers feel that there is a place for them in the econ- 
omy of social life which neither they nor society at large should 
forget. The observance of the day has become a fixed fact in 
Springfield, and has done much to bind together the various 
unions in the general brotherhood. 

The success that various unions have won in securing shorter 
hours of labor in many factories and employments should not re- 
main unnoticed. By fair but earnest agitation the workday has 
been shortened without loss to production. This has added to the 
comfort and satisfaction of those affected. All advances that have 
been made for the better condition of wage-earners have come 
from the united stand thev have taken, not for destructive conten- 



250 CENTENNIAL OF 

tion, but for improvement to all concerned. Labor will always do 
the best for the employer when it does the best for itself. We 
believe the harmony that has generally been characteristic of the 
relation between labor and capital in Springfield will continue, 
and both will prosper in the century on which we have now en- 
tered. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 251 



IX 

WOMAN'S DAY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTERESTS. 



Saturday, the loth, was a day of much interest. Subjects 
had been left for it that were of most vital importance to the en- 
tire community— Woman's Work, and Education. The real his- 
tory of the progress of our city could not be written without tak- 
ing notice of what woman has done in the home, in society, in 
church, in moral training and culture, in temperance, in benevo- 
lence, and in works of charity. Her life has been woven into the 
fabric of society, and a morning given for her to relate some of 
the things which she has done to fashion the life of our city was 
due the importance of the place she has occupied. The only re- 
gret is that more time could not be given to present other phases 
of her work. Mrs. F. M. Hagan presided at the meeting and 
happily introduced those who had part in the program, after mak- 
ing the following address : 



1252 CENTENNIAL OF 




MRS. F. M. HAGAN. 



MRS. F. M. HAGAN'S ADDRESS. 



Fellow-Women of Springfield: 

Our city is one hundred years old. This would be quite a 
venerable age for a woman, but our city is just in the prime of 
life. She is robust in health, handsome in appearance, kind and 
generous of heart, brilliant mentally, and prosperous financially. 
Is she faultless? Ah, well, it would not be very kind to talk of 
her shortcomings on her one hundredth birthday. If she is not 
quite as temperate, not as neat, as she ought to be, let us not put 
our criticism into words, but inwardly resolve that during the 
early years of her second century we will do everything in our 
power to correct whatever faults she may have. 

We, the women of Springfield, are proud of her, and of our 
part in making her what she is, and it is of this that we have 
come together to talk this morning. 

Taking a backward look, we see that the women of the first 
quarter of the century were a brave, courageous group, who en- 
dured hardship with fortitude, a noble band who made possible 
all that we women of today enjoy. The pioneer woman was a 
brave martyr. To her we may well look back with reverent awe. 

During the first two quarters of the century woman's influ- 
ence radiated from two centers, the church and the home; and 
we, the women of the last two quarters of the century, take pride 
in still claiming these as our chief spheres of action. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 25a 

The ruddy glow that shone from the windows of the first log 
cabins was the only thing that kept many a man in those early 
days from giving up in discouragement and despair the struggle 
to wrest from the wilderness a home. From the home of Simon 
Kenton came the name of Springfield, given to the little settle- 
ment by Mrs. Kenton. To a pioneer woman, Mrs. Smallwood, 
belongs the honor of establishing by her influence the first place 
of public worship in Springfield. 

As the years have rolled by, one by one, an increasing popu- 
lation has required of us a broader philanthropy than that cen- 
tered in home and church. Times there have been when our city 
made demands upon our devotion, our patriotism ; when great 
questions have inspired us to larger sacrifices of time and energy ; 
when growing intellectual activity spurred us into a broader field 
of literary attainment. The papers to be read in our hearing this 
morning will tell us how the women of Springfield have re- 
sponded to these calls of our city. 




MRS. C. M. NICHOLS. 



WORK OF THE WOMEN OF SPRINGFIELD IN THE 

CIVIL WAR. 



BY MRS. C. M. NICHOLS. 



A history of what the women of Springfield did for their 
friends, their husbands, sons, and, in many cases, fathers, at the 
front, and for their country, would be a long one. Their work 
corresponded, in spirit and devotion, to that done by the soldiers 



354 CENTENNIAL OF 

in active service. First and chiefly, was the giving up of their 
men to the cause, and their generous and long-continued work in 
behalf of sick and wounded soldiers in field and in hospitals. Our 
Soldiers' Aid Society, organized December 3, i'863, was all that 
the title implies. It would be impossible to name all who deserve 
praise and grateful remembrance from present and future genera- 
tions. They numbered by hundreds. There were efficient leaders 
and workers among them : Mrs. Richard Rodgers, Sr., Airs. Jo- 
seph Cathcart, Mrs. Major William Hunt and her daughters — 
Mrs. Edwin B. Cassily, Mrs. Mary Tiers and Mrs. Chandler Rob- 
bins — Mrs. Richard D. Harrison, Mrs. James S. Goode, Mrs. S. 
A. Bowman, Mrs. John Foos, Mrs. John H. Rodgers, Mrs. N. 
Kinsman, Mrs. Alfred Williams, Mrs. Nimrod Myers, Miss Fran- 
ces Rodgers, Miss Mary J. Clokey (now Mrs. Porter), Miss Jen- 
nie King, Mrs. Peter A. Schindler, Mrs. Oscar Bancroft, Mrs. 
William Wright, Mrs. Colonel Sanderson, Miss Belle Montjoy, 
Miss Emma Torbert, Mrs. J. A. R. S. Guy, and many others who 
were associated with the writer in the work of administering to 
the needs of the sick soldiers, working for years in collecting 
vegetables for their use. One elderly lady, nearly 90 years of age, 
recently told me that she emptied her front hall and used it for a 
storeroom for boxes to be filled with garments to be sent to the 
soldiers, she herself sitting up until midnight nearly every night 
to make the buttonholes for all those garments, making thousands 
of them during the war. 

The ladies of the city, both young ladies and the older ones, 
met in bands at the homes, after collecting material, and sewed 
for the families of soldiers who were at the front. The elderly 
ladies who could do nothing else, stayed at hbme and knit socks 
to be sent to them. I have a long list of articles, numbering hun- 
dreds, donated by the Springfield Aid Society to the Great West- 
ern Sanitary Fair at Cincinnati, on December 19, 1863, the money 
value of which was $1,076.46. 

With the co-operation of these ladies the Clark County Aux- 
iliary to the Great Western Sanitary Fair contributed $5,580 of 
the $234,000 raised for the general fund. The Clark County 
Auxiliary was awarded a beautiful silken banner for the largest 
donation. The banner is now on the south wall of the court room. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 255 

A room in the old Willis Hotel, now "The Miller," was devoted to 
the work, where men and w^omen, young and old, chopped cab- 
iDage and packed pickles and other food supplies in barrels and 
boxes and forwarded them to the proper persons at the front. A 
prominent figure in the rooms was the stalwart form of the vet- 
eran Alfred Williams, now, with a large number of his fellow- 
workers, in the better land. 

Very early in the war our people, largely our women, pro- 
vided our Clark County boys with blankets and provisions. There 
was a Yoimg Ladies' Sewing Society, of which Mrs. Judge J. S. 
Goode was President, and Miss Jennie King w^as Secretary, the 
managers being ]\Irs. S. A. Bowman, Mrs. G. W. Benns, Mrs. 
John Foos, Miss Sarah Baker and Miss Emma Torbert. ]Miss 
Anna Cummings was Treasurer. The work of all our women 
was arduous, but was gladly done. The members of their familie.? 
accepted cold lunches at home, so that their noble representatives 
could render efficient services in the aid rooms. There were many 
women who could not be at the aid rooms, but went to the homes 
of those W'ho could go, and cared for their children while they 
were at the rooms at work. 

No history, however long, could do justice to this great topic. 
It might be said that the representative women of our city were, 
with few exceptions, engaged heartily in this work, and rendered 
a service to which no writer's pen can do justice. In connection 
with this, it should be borne in mind that with the women of all 
portions of the county the story is the same, continued indefinitely. 
It is a proud one, only second in importance to that of heroism 
and patriotic devotion in the field. 



256 CENTENNIAL OF 




MRS. AMAZIAH WINGER. 



WOMAN'S WORK FOR LOVE. 



BY MRS. AMA.ZIAH WINGER. 



Madam Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

My subject on the program, as you have seen, is "Woman's 
Work for Charity." With your permission, I wiH change the 
word charity to love. I beheve we will all find, before I am 
through, that it suits my subjects better, as I have a variety of 
them. To give an account of woman's Christian and benevolent 
work done in our city during the last century would carry us back 
long before any of us had a beginning, and before our beautiful 
city was filled with homes. We had in those early days of small 
beginnings, large-hearted Christian women, unselfish and true, 
and, as I recall the pleasure it gave me to listen to the story of 
their lives, I was satisfied they were their lirothers' keepers, as we 
are commanded to be, not only in words, but in deeds. We have 
been told to cast our bread upon the waters, and we shall have it 
returned to us ; after the patient waiting, the golden harvest. Our 
mothers taught us the best lessons of our lives, when they said 
live for others and forget self. By so doing, we are made women 
in heart. When our mothers were young in years, it seems now 
they were old in wisdom. When sickness or sorrow came into 
our homes, the trained nurse could not be had as in these days, 
but our large-hearted neighbor was ready to minister to the suf- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 257 

fering and the dying. A sad picture to many here today, who 
have seen nearly all that has heen dear in life pass from them. 
Only a little more time remains to many of us. Shall we fill up 
the blanks with deeds that will be helpful to others, or mire in the 
pool of selfishness ? 

The work, as far back as I can find any record, is the work 
of the Woman's Benevolent Society, organized soon after the war, 
Mrs. Guy, Mrs. John Foos and Mrs. Elizabeth Flynn, I remem- 
ber very well as workers in this Woman's Benevolent Society. 
Mrs. Guy told me she had forty calls one day for help, ofteit 
twenty and thirty. The sick, the suffering, a^ well as the poor,, 
were cared for, and this work was done before we had street cars, 
and telephones. Could Mrs. Foos and Mrs. Guy tell you the story 
of their work, as well as that of the many noble women who la- 
bored with them, it would be of much greater interest. After a 
number of years this work became so laborious, that they had 
a meeting called to organize the Associated Charity work, 
which has been faithfully carried on by Mr. Cumback, his as- 
sistants, and Board of Managers. 

About twenty-five years ago, some women interested in 
benevolent work started a sewing school in a small way. At first 
the meetings took place in rooms given free of rent to those in- 
terested in the work. As the school began to grow, larger quar- 
ters were desirable, and a room in the Court House was placed at 
the disposal of the school. The expense of buving the materials 
used was defrayed ])y the Associated Charities and ])\' private do- 
nations. Many comforts and quilts were made and distrilnited to 
persons who applied to the Associated Charities. In 1895, it was 
thought best, as the school had grown, to organize the work on a 
strictly business basis. A constitution was adopted, and a presi- 
dent, two vice-presidents, an executive committee of five, a treas- 
urer and secretary were elected. It was decided to give an annual 
tea at the home of one of the officers, in order to support the 
school for the year. Only at this time was the public called upon to 
do anything for the school. Thus far these teas have been a great 
success, and this is partly due to the fact that some of the best 
amateurs and professionals have been kind enough to provide en- 
tertainment for those who attend the functions. The moncv made 



258 CENTENNIAL OF 

is used to buy materials for crarments. Every year from lift}' to 
one hundred little Rannel skirts are made by the children for 
themselves, also many g-ing^ham aprons. The quilt, or comfort 
department is a very important one. Everything^ that is made in 
the school is given to the children. The kitchen garden depart- 
ment has been very successful ; here children are taught to set the 
table, wait on the table, make beds, etc. The youngest children 
are put in what is called the kindergarten, although it is not 
strictly such. The school is undenominational, and the women 
interested in the work consider this indispensable to its success. 
The first vear of the organization the average attendance was 140, 
but last vear it was 190. There is a shoe fund, which provides 
those who need them wdth good strong shoes. At Christmas time 
a treat is given to the children, in the shape of candies, oranges 
and nuts. At the last meeting of the year, rewards are given to 
the children who have been neat and clean, and have not been 
absent more than once. The school has been steadily growing, 
and it is hoped that it will continue to do so until we have manual 
training in the public schools. I think ]\Irs. Haywood was the 
first president of the Industrial School. Mrs. H. H. Bean now 
fills that position in an able manner, giving the annual teas at her 
residence. 

The first organization of the women after the Benevolent 
Society, was the Needle Work Guild, which was organized De- 
cember 4, 1894, nearly seven years ago. Mrs. George Winwood 
was the organizer, and her efforts have been successful and belly- 
ful. We often wonder how we could get along wdthout the Needle 
Work Guild. Since it was organized, they have given out 13.590 
garments, $1,016.96 to buy shoes and other articles. The Needle 
Work Guild was a branch of the National Needle Work Guild of 
America, and was divided into seventeen sections, with president 
and secretary for each. The work has always been done in Octo- 
ber and November, in the way of collecting these garments, and 
they are distributed immediately. 

The Young Woman's Alission, in its fourth year of active 
work, has an acti\'^ membership of fifteen young women. The 
Mission aims to alleviate distress and suffering among Spring- 
field's sick poor. And while the funds are used only for the sick 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 359 

•ones, yet in many cases help is given to other members of the 
family. During the winter season, the members meet to sew once 
a week, and in this way sheets and pillow cases, baby wardrobes 
and comforts are provided for the year's work. Visits to the sick 
are made by the young women themselves, and suitable reading 
matter, dainty bits of food, etc., are usually taken on such visits. 
A library was collected for the Mitchell-Thomas Hospital, and 
placed there through the efforts of the Mission. Most of the 
books were donated through the kindness of those interested in 
the work. We hope in the future to increase the size of this 
library, and in this manner lighten the weary hours for the sick. 
A remarkable fact is, that during the three years' service, no 
member of the Mission has ever been unkindly received when 
visiting. The officers and board most earnestly request the co- 
operation of the public in reporting cases of illness, and bringing 
to notice such as come within its bounds. Miss Jane Hall is 
President of the Young Women's Mission. 

The Woman's Christian Association of Springfield was or- 
ganized in November, 1896. It was the outgrowth of a work 
commenced several years ago, known as the Deaconess' Home. 
The Woman's Christian Association is a work of love, akin to 
that of the Young Men's Christian Association, religious and up- 
lifting in its aim. We have now the Clark Memorial Home for 
Aged Women, the Relief Home, and the Needle Work Guild, all 
under the care of this association. The regular work of this asso- 
ciation was commenced in a house on the corner of Columbia 
street and Market street, now better known as North Fountain 
avenue. The work of this association is to care for women and 
children, take care of children when the mothers worked, so a 
day nursery was established. A few }ears ago, the Relief Home 
was removed to Jefferson street, at one time the home of Dr. 
Ramsey, now owned by Mr. Ross IMitchell. The house was too 
small, as we had so many little children wanting a home, so a few 
weeks ago, we moved into a pleasant house, surrounded by grand 
old trees, making it attractive and comfortable for the children. 
The house was at one time owned by Mrs. Baker, who moved 
there from Cincinnati. Mrs. Baker was greatly beloved, as was 
also her charming familv. The Relief Home, with Mrs. Reed as 



260 CENTENNIAL OF 

matron, and other helpers, cares for from eighteen to twenty-five 
children. Eighteen are now in the Home. I never see the chil- 
dren in the home but the little pathetic title of a poem comes ta 
my mind, "Some Mother's Darling," surrounded once with the 
love of parents, brothers and sisters. Can anything appeal to our 
better natures with more tenderness than the child without a 
home? Let us give them a home, not a house only, built with the 
things that perish, hut a home filled with sacred memories ; give 
them the sympathy that fills the, heart, and the happiness that will 
bring peace to them. The children in this home have friends who- 
care for them. They all have some one who pays for each, one- 
dollar or one dollar and tw'enty-five cents per week. Many cir- 
cumstances have brought them into the Home, death of one or the 
other parent, separation, or sickness. Is not this Relief Home 
well named, and will not some one here today help these little 
ones ? I am sure no work in this city has greater claims upon us. 
The children will now sing, antl as their sweet voices lift us up to- 
better living, wil not gifts be made to the Home today ? 

The Clark Memorial Home 'for Aged Women was given tO' 
the women of Springfield by Mrs. Charlotte S. Clark, in May, 
1899, in memory of her son. The contract for remodeling the- 
house was given to Mr. James Dalie. The architect was Mr. 
Robert Gotwald. The old house was made new by the i6th of 
November, 1899, when the house was opened to callers from 2 
to 5 in the afternoori and from 7 to 10 at night. Every room, at 
that time, was furnished and occupied. The i6th of next Novem- 
ber we will have occupied the house two years. The gift of Mrs. 
Clark was a noble and generous one, and to the last of our organ- 
ized Woman's Christian Association work. Mrs. Charles Stout is- 
President of the Woman's Christian Association ; Mrs. George 
Winwood, Chairman of the Clark Home, and Miss Mina Shafer 
the efficient matron. The Home was given to the women of 
Springfield who were left alone and needed a home. A payment 
of $200 is made by those entering the Home, and property they^ 
raay be possessed of at their death should revert to the Home.. 
The building cost, to remodel, $3,000, the furnishings about 
$2,000, and the expense of supporting the Home for one year is- 
about $1,200. The women living there have a home. I wish all 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 361 

of you could <?o throuf^h the Home. Every Thursday afternoon 
and evening- are set apart for visitors at the Home, aUhough they 
are welcome at any time. I hope if I am honest enough to give 
jou a true statement of our financial condition, you will not cease 
being generous, although we liave ])romised not to do any general 
soliciting until the Young Men's Christian Association is out of 
debt ; but that, you know, will not be much longer, for the dedica- 
tion will be the 17th of September. We expect in February to 
put an annex to the building, as we have many applications for 
entrance to the Home. We have now the plans given us by Mr. 
Gotwald, for the addition to the Home, ]\Ir. Gotwald charging us 
nothing, having sent us his receipted bill of $175 on our opening 
day. We are now out of debt, with $600 in bank, and with $4,500 
toward the endowment. But with this( encouraging statement, I 
am sure much work would have had to be done aside from the 
generous gifts we have received, had not Hon. John W. Book- 
waiter given us his beautiful new hotel for an entertainment, and 
his check for $500, for which we made him an honorary member 
of the Board of Managers, adding $500 to the endowment fund, 
which is now $4,500. Mr. Bookwalter, while abroad last winter, 
lieard of our $2,500 indebtedness on the Home, and sent us $2,500, 
thus canceling our indebtedness. We are very grateful to any one 
who lent a helping hand by contributing in any way to the Clark 
Home. I wish I could give the names of all who have helped us 
in any way, but to name a few and not all. would not be kind or 
just. The subjects assigned me have required some labor, but if 
I have interested any person in any branch of work T have spoken 
of, then some good has been accomplished. 

Now, one word about the gymnasium for women, girls, chil- 
dren and small boys. This branch of work has been si>oken of, 
as well as a rest room for wage-earning girls. Those of you who 
have visited the Woman's Christian Association in Dayton, the 
home years ago of Mr. John P. Winters, who contributed largely 
to the association when they bought the building, and has contin- 
iied his contributions, have seen the fine g\'mnasium for those 
above mentioned, and have observed the method of giving 
instruction. We can have the assistant gymnasium teacher 
here, if we have the rooms in October. We ho])e since we 



362 CENTENNIAL OF 

have told so many good things, large hearts will be opened to 
these objects of interest to every one. 

Woman's Benevolent Society, the Industrial School, the 
Needle Work Guild, the Woman's Christian Association, the 
Relief Home, the ClQ|rk Home, the Young Women's Mission, all 
of these are the outcome of the Benevolent Society, organized 
soon after the war. I regret we can not give you more of the 
women's work in Springfield of the century closing with 1901. 




MRS. E. L. BUCHWALTER. 



HISTORY OF THE WOMEN'S CLUBS OF SPRINGFIELD. 



BY MRS. E. L. BUCHWALTER. 



When the subject of Women's Clubs is under discussion, the 
term is conceded to mean the great movement which started with 
the organization of Sorosis in New York City and the New Eng- 
land Woman's Club, in Boston, in 1868. Which of these twa 
clubs started first, does not interest the average Western woman, 
although the club women of these two great Eastern cities have 
spent much bodily and spiritual force in making good the claims- 
of their respective clubs to priority — energy which might have 
been used to much better purpose. 

The first literary club in Springfield of which any trace has 
been left was an ideal one, in that its members were both men and 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 263 

women. As there are no records, it is somewhat (UiTicult to find 
out anything- very definite concernino- it. There seems to be a mis- 
tiness about the descriptions that baffles the matter-of-fact chron- 
icler. This club was in existence during the 70's. The families 
of Judge and Dr. Rodgers, the Warders, Brookes, Bishops, and 
doubtless many others, belonged to it. x\s the identity of the au- 
thor of the Waverly Novels w^as concealed at first, and he was 
called the "Great Unknown." so this club, to carry out a certain 
air of mystery, called themselves the Great Unknown, which was 
shortened to the G. U.'s. The modern woman's club is accused 
of taking itself too seriousy ; not so this early club. Its mission 
seems to have been to delight and entertain each other. The pa- 
pers of the late lamented Henry G. Rodgers are remembered with 
distinctness. A younger brother also, though not a member, con- 
tributed sketches which foretold a talent that has carried his fame 
around the world. :Miss Helen MacBeth is remembered by some 
very witty verses. ^Irs. Lott Clarke delighted the club with her 
Shakespearean readings. This much has been gathered concern- 
ing this club, which, in the memory of its members, always seems 
to Ijc in the soft glow of "that light that never was on land or sea." 
The first w^oman's club of which any record has been kept is 
a Chautauqua Circle known as the Worthington Scientific and 
Literary Circle. It was organized in 1878 l)y Mrs. Ruth A. 
Worthington. whose name it bears — who was at that time ])rinci- 
pal of the Springfield Seminary. It has a limited membershii) of 
thirty, and but one charter member is now a member — Miss 
Ellis'sa Houston. This club has always taken high rank among 
Chautauqua Circles and has been a vital hel]) in all movements of 
tb.e town which required women's aid. 

These circles should have a well-defined place of honor in the 
educational development of the nineteenth century. Emanating 
from the famous Chautau(|ua Assemblies, they first encouraged 
systematic courses of reading and study and subsequent examina- 
tions therein. They have been a large factor in raising the aver- 
age of education and general intelligence : they have penetrated 
everv village and hamlet as well as large cities, and may truly be 
called the university of the middle-aged woman. 

The o-rowth of the modern women's clul) movement has been 



264 CENTENNIAL. OF 

unlike anything that preceded it ; one unique feature being that 
the impulse to start these clubs seemed to be spontaneous and 
from all parts of the country at once. Beginning in 1868 — many 
clubs were formed through the 70's — many more in the 80's and 
90's — until now there are over a million of women in clubs, and 
thev are found all over the country, the latest accession to the 
General Federation being from Alaska. 

Although they were started as literary clubs, they seem at 
once to be ready to stand for all that will promote education as 
well as a high public spirit and a better social order. All phases 
of education, from the kindergarten to the university, have felt 
the force of their encouragement. Summer schools for teachers, 
night schools, vacation schools for children, university extension. 
are all avowed subjects of interest in the women's clubs. Library 
extension, in the ])ractical form of traveling libraries, has been 
fostered by them in all State Federations, and in some States the 
centers have been at the front in securing the legislation neces- 
sary to secure them. At a recent meeting of the American Library 
Association, Mr. F. A. Hutchins, of the Wisconsin Free Library 
Commission, said: "The advancement in all library interests is 
due in large part to the women's clubs. * * * In most of the 
States they are doing more than the librarians in the establish- 
ment and spread of libraries." 

The first woman's club in Springfield was the Traveler's — 
founded in 1888 by Mrs. J. W. Murphy. It had at first thirty 
members, afterward raising its numlier to forty, and later adding 
an associate list of ten members. It has brought lecturers to the 
city, the most noted being the great Egyptologist, Amelia B. Ed- 
wards. This club, appreciating the great aid the Springfield Pub- 
lic Library was to its researches, added a beautiful oak clock to 
the furniture of the Warder Library. 

The Traveler's Club has had the honor of furnishing the 
leading officer of the State in the General Federation, and for the 
last four years Ohio's member of the Board of this large organ- 
ization has come from this club. 

The second club, in point of time, is the Fortnightly, wdiich 
was founded in 1891 with the active encouragement of the Trav- 
eler's Club. This club also has brought several noted lecturers to 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 265 

the city and has had most excellent and diversified courses of 
study. 

The third club started in Sprinp^field was the Monday After- 
noon Club. It was founded by five ladies, who united for the pur- 
pose, who were the first officers and formed the executive board. 
They are Mrs. J. S. Crowell, Airs. H. S. Bradley, Miss Ella Las- 
ley, Mrs. T. J. Kirkpatrick and Mrs. Ralph Hunt. This club has 
maintained the standard of the other Spring-field clubs and now 
has for president Mrs. T. J. Kirkpatrick. 

The fourth club was the Tuesday Club, which is composed of 
women younger than the two former clubs. It was founded in 
1893 by Blanche Essex Phillips, who has since passed into the 
higher life. The charter membership was sixteen, which was aft- 
erward extended to thirty. It has always had high aims and am- 
bitions, and has done conscientious work. ]\Iiss Laura Winger is 
now President. These four clubs, all members of the General 
Eederation — the Traveler's, Fortnightly, Monday Afternoon, and 
the Tuesday — united in inviting the club women of Ohio to meet 
in conference in Springfield in October, 1894, to discuss the ad- 
visability of forming a State Federation. This had been at- 
tempted twice before in other towns, but the attempts were fail- 
ures. All clubs in the State, federated and unfederated, were in- 
A'ited. The responses astonished the most sanguine. Ninety- 
eight clubs were invited and seventy-eight responded, and before 
the convention adjourned a State Federation was formed which 
now leads all other State Federations in number of clubs enrolled, 
and ranks very high in practical work accomplished. 

Ohio was the sixth State to federate her clubs, and there are 
now thirty-seven State Federations. 

The Study Club was started by a group of girls still in school 
in 1896. These were Emma and Alice Penfield, Louise Anthony, 
Emma Black, Elinor Collette, Georgia Todd, ]\Iary Gotwald and 
Mary Pringle. It has done most creditable work ; its programs of 
study showing care and thought, and through its own exertions 
funds have been raised which have lieen used for others, usually 
the City Hospital. Like all the other clubs mentioned, this club 
Iselongs to the State Federation and has always sent delegates to 
State Conventions. 



266 CENTENNIAL OF 

The latest clulj to organize is the Research Club, which was 
first known as the Study Club. Its charter members were eight 
in number — Mrs. x\nnie Atkinson, Airs. George D. Grant, ]\rrs. 
Martin M. Grant, Mrs. Clarence L. Lafferty, Mrs. Frank E. Saw- 
yer, Mrs. George C. Van Cleef, Aliss Ida Van Cleef, Miss Eliza- 
beth C. Wright. This number was afterward increased to twenty- 
five. It is now a member of the State Federation, with Mrs. 
Chase P. HotTman, President. 

The latest feature in ►club life in Springfield was the organ- 
ization of the Springfield Woman's Club, in May of the present 
year, with Miss Ballard as President. The two oldest clubs, the 
Traveler's and Fortnightly, first invited all the federated clubs in 
the city to join in forming a large club, believing that more eflrect- 
ive work could be done in this way than by working singly. The 
other clubs, however, did not feel that the work they were doing 
would be best done as proposed, and declined to assist. Subse- 
quently the Traveler's and Fortnightly effected an organization 
which they hope and have confidence to believe will be a nucleus 
of a large and effective organization. Its membership is practic- 
ally unlimited, and those actively interested hope that with the 
large fund at their disposal the new club will be able to command 
the services of distinguished lecturers and secure experts in all 
the departments of study and work which the club will undertake. 
It has only two departments, namely, Literature and Art, and So- 
ciology. Under the comprehensive term of vSociology they will 
investigate all the modem problems of the day, or such of them 
as demand the practical attention of a city the size of ours. 

There are doubtless other clubs in town which are doing ef- 
fective work in developing the individual members and which are 
a power in their respective neighborhood. Definite information 
has not been forthcoming, much to the regret of the compiler of 
this record. 

In the beginning of the second century of our city's existence 
and the twentieth century of the Christian era, there is another 
evolution in club life which is much to be desired. It is not good 
for man or woman to be alone, and the club life, with all that it 
implies, subjectively and objectively, will never reach its highest 
efficiency until the membership is composed of men and women, 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 267' 

each being necessary to the solution of the problems which are 
confrontinof us. 



TEMPERANCE IN SPRINGFIELD. 



BY MRS. GEORGE FRANKENBERG. 



We are not willing to let Springfield's Centennial pass with- 
out speaking of the temperance movements which have interested 
her citizens from time to time. In the early settlement a distillery 
was one of the most welcome improvements, and a hundred years 
ago the best people considered whisky a necessity. If some 
made fools of themselves by the too free use of it, it was only a 
laughing matter. It is claimed by some that there were fewer 
drunkards then than now. Remember, there were fewer people to 
drink, and we were free from the modern saloon with all its dia- 
bolical inventions for enticing the young, and making drunkards — 
and liquor made nowadays contains more poison, and more dread- 
ful effects result from its use than in olden times. When. Spring- 
field was beginning to build up, no barn or mill raising, or log 
rolling, was attempted without a good supply of whisky. The in- 
vited hands would be insulted, and never respond again to such 
an invitation, if the whisky was not provided. 

Indeed, the women passed liquor to their guests, and real 
whisky at quiltings, rag-sewings, and wool-pickings. I heard my 
mother tell of being at a wool-picking at ^Irs. Dodson's (who 
lived about where the Fosters now live, east of town). In the 
afternoon whisky and apple pie were passed around. The wool 
was, of course, greasy ; napkins and finger bowls were not known 
then. Aly mother said she declined to partake of the refresh- 
ments. I do not know how she made her excuse. \Mien I was a 
child, seventy years ago, my father had liquor on the sideboard, 
wine glasses, and the table decanters. Cherry-bounce was a 
favorite drink, and these decanters usually were filled wath the 
bright red cherry bounce, and every caller was treated. The 
old farmers out about Harmony and Buck Creek stopped on 



268 CENTENNIAL OF 

their way from town, and I remember that sometimes they 
did not ride away quite so straight as when they came. My 
father never failed to show his hospitality, and treated his 
callers freely, although he seldom tasted liquor himself. 

The "muster days" were also times when liquor passed freely 
among the "blue coats." My father, as some here remember, was 
a general of the militia. General Anthony and General Samson 
Mason also were in office at that time. Sometimes the general 
muster, a yearly event, was held in a large open field just west of 
where Oakland Chapel now stands. I wish to tell of what I think 
was the first temperance meeting ever held in Springfield. There 
was a great excitement over temperance in Western Pennsylvania- 
so that some went so far as to cut down their orchards. This be- 
gan to reach Ohio in about 1830, and in the summer of 183 1 a 
young man named Fairchild came West and lectured. The first 
meeting here was held in the old red brick Court House, and was 
a wonderful meeting. Twas a little girl. My father and mother 
took me with them to this temperance meeting. Invitation was 
given for people to sign the temperance pledge. Much to the as- 
tonishment of my mother, my father marched to the front and 
signed this pledge. I think he was the first man in Springfield to 
sign a temperance pledge. My mother was somewhat troubled 
over it, although she thought my father had done a grand thing. 
"But," she said, "it is right in the midst of harvest ; your men will 
leave ; they are used to having the liquor every day in the field. 
And in two weeks you are to have the Beaver Creek Mills raised. 
Who will come to your raising without liquor?" My father said : 
"Well, I am convinced of the sin of intemperance, and wonder 
that I never saw it in the light of a sin until to-night." The next 
morning he called the men all together, told them of the temper- 
ance meeting and what he did there, urging them to do the same. 
"Now," said he, "I should like to have your assistance in rolling 
up out of the cellar the barrel of liquor and empty it to run down 
this drain through the orchard into the pig pasture, and if any 
man is not willing to work without liquor, I will pay him ofif. 
Any who stay and work without, I shall raise their wages." The 
men helped to empty the cherry bounce, which ran through the 
pig pasture, and I. remember how drunk our hogs got that day, 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 369- 

after eating- the cherries from the Hquor. When I see a drunken 
man I think of those staggerin"-, drunken hogs. Not a man left 
my father's employ, and I was so proud of him I wondered why 
he was not at once made President of the United States. It was 
a joy to my little heart to carry the cups and help carry the 
cofifee to the field that day. The impression on my mind never 
was effaced, and helped me ever to stand firm for temperance. 
Well, the Beaver Creek Mills were raised, and one or tw^o men here 
may remember it to have been a perfect success as the first raising 
without liquor. Other temperance movements came, and in some 
cases seemed to die out, not one, hoiv^ever, hut that some drunkard 
zvas reformed, some soul saved. There has been much good ac- 
complished by every revival of temperance, and lately people are 
beginning- to study more closely the evils of intemperance and 
teaching it in our homes and schools. 

I wish to speak of the Woman's Temperance Crusade. This 
crusade had a beginning, in Ohio, in Hillsboro and Washington 
Court House. Mrs. Thomson, of Hillsboro, led out the first band 
there and read on that occasion the One Hundred and Forty-sixth 
Psalm. Dio Lewis, about this time, visited Hillsboro, and came 
here to lecture. His talks informed and enthused the Springfield 
women on the temperance question. At that time we had a 
Woman's Benevolent Society, Mrs. Guy, President. She ap- 
pointed a prayer meeting-, which was held February, 1874, in the 
Presbyterian Church. The subject of prayer was temperance and 
asking for Divine aid in the work. This was a wonderful meet- 
ing-. With the devotion came a feeling of awe. The women felt 
that they were about to be numbered among the handmaidens of 
the Lord, and His Spirit was to be poured out upon them. On 
February 10, 1874, the first band of Crusaders started out from 
the First Presbyterian Church. In front of a saloon on Main 
street it held a prayer meeting, and crowds listened to the Bible 
reading, singing and prayers. On Februar}' 11 another meeting 
for prayer was held in Center Street Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and no old Crusader will ever forg-et that meeting. It was held at 
10 o'clock a. m., and before noon we had all become so filled with 
the conscious presence of the Spirit that all fear and reluctance of 
praying on the street, and in saloons, had vanished. From this 



270 CENTENNIAL OF 

meeting' the second band marched forth on that most wonderful 
crusade. This was the first time I had gone out, and I remember 
I walked with Mrs. Jane Anderson — she a Methodist, I a Presby- 
terian. I had in my mind tried to convince myself that I need not 
engage in this work and pray in public, because I was a Presby- 
terian. And now, I feel that one great blessing through this Cru- 
sade was that sealed lips were opened, and the women of all the 
dififerent denominations came together in a closer bond of union 
than ever before. Oh ! what a blessing that Crusade has been, and 
will continue to be, in uniting Christians of all names. 

I should like to have go on record the names of every self- 
denying, brave, Springfield woman who engaged in this most re- 
markable event in the history of this city. I know, however, that 
I could not recall the names. Mother Stewart came here some 
years before the Crusade, and from the first proved herself to be 
a most earnest and valuable temperance worker. But when, 
through this wonderful baptism upon our women, so many less 
prominent persons than Mother Stewart took in hand the leading 
of bands, visiting saloonkeepers, and trying to convince them of 
the harm they were doing, etc., this local temperance work was 
divided among many ; and Mother Stewart was called upon to go 
from town to town to lecture, and even to cross the Atlantic Ocean 
more than once to assist in temperance work in England and Scot- 
land. And we shall ever feel thankful for the assistance received 
from the pastors of every church in Springfield — their aid and 
prayers. The Rev. M. W. Hamma was an enthusiastic helper in 
the work. Mr. Clifton Nichols deserves mention for his timely 
aid in many ways ; and. being an editor of one of our leading 
papers, had occasion to befriend the women and the cause through 
his editorials. Many things occurred to prove the good being 
done in those street meetings. I have known rough-looking boys 
and men to stop, evidently to make fun or disturb the women, and 
after a touching song or pleading prayer these rough ones would 
go away with tears in their eyes. There were conversions right 
on the street, and often there was heard from some bystander, 
"God bless you." Sometimes these praying bands were badly 
treated by the saloonist or some rough persons, but oftener were 
invited, or at least allowed, to hold meetings in the saloon. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 271 

Close Upon the Crusade came Francis Murphy, and for 
-months those wonderful Murphy meetings were held in the old 
Market House and in Black's Opera House. Hundreds signed 
the Murphy pledge. Some failed to keep it, others thank the 
Lord today for that pledge, because it helped them to reform. 
Now, Springfield was helped by the temperance Crusade, and by 
every temperance movement inaugurated here, notwithstanding 
the cry from some, "What good has ever come out of the Crusade 
or all these temperance excitements?" Every temperance wave 
has worked to save some struggling, sinking soul. One of the 
fruits of the Crusade here is that we have now the three well or- 
ganized Woman's Christian Temperance Unions, all working har- 
moniously, although on somewhat different lines. Each is accom- 
plishing much good. We need today a crusade against the liquor 
traffic ; perhaps not at all on the former plan, for as time goes on, 
new plans must be adopted. It surely cannot be that with the ad- 
vance that Springfield has made in one hundred years she will be 
slow in anything pertaining to the good of the rising generation. 
No, I believe that when this beautiful city celebrates her two hun- 
dredth birthday, the saloon will be referred to as a thing of the 
past and forgotten. 



During the woman's meeting an exercise was given by five 
little girls— Dorothy Hypes. Ruth Eraser, Margaretta and Ade- 
laide Thomson and ^Margaret Hagan. This exercise was called, 
"When Grandma Was a Girl." and lectured by word and panto- 
mime how grandma spun, knit, sang and danced. This dance of 
the olden time was then further portrayed by eighteen little girls 
and boys from St. Raphael's School, who, dressed in Oriental cos- 
tume, gave the minuet. Their names were as follows : ]\Iarie 
Garrett. Emma Kavanaugh, Norene Kennedy. Helen Griffin, 
Marie Jones, EHzabeth Fitzgerald Helen r.urkc. Marie Stelzer. 
George O'Brien. \\'alter Reilly. John Burke. Ralph Lobaugh. 
James Swords. Raphael Shea. \\'alter Bentz. William Mulligan. 

When Mrs. Winger, in the reading of her paper, came to 
that i)art descriptive of the Relief Home, fifteen little children. 



272 CENTENNIAL OF 

inmates of that institution, came forward and sang, in sweet, 
childish voices — 



Jesus loves me, this I know, 
For the Bible tells me so ; 
Little ones to Him belong, 
We are weak, but He is strong. 



EDUCATION. 



In the afternoon the paper on "Education'' was read. There 
was a good attendance of teachers and friends, who listened with 
eagerness to the reader. The great State of Ohio was cradled in 
the atmosphere of education. It commenced with the ordinance 
of 1787, it was continued in the Constitution of 1802, and for fifty 
years there was perhaps no message of the Governors of the State 
to the Legislature that did not discuss and urge the cause of edu- 
cation. It took half a century to reach free schools, but their con- 
dition today shows how well the people of the State appreciate 
what the early statesmen did in laying the foundation of our 
school system. Springfield has always taken pride in educational 
work. For more than fifty years she had the advantages of nu- 
merous private schools. They were of excellent character and 
were taught by men who were experts in their line. During the 
last half-century great advances have been made in the public 
schools, in extent of courses ofifered, in character and qualifica- 
tions of teachers, in buildings, in appliances, and in methods and 
management. While private schools of elementary grades have 
about disappeared, the presence of Wittenberg College, with its 
opportunities for advanced work, has done much to elevate the 
standard of education in our city, and has brought the advantage 
of a collegiate training to the doors of many young people to 
whom the opportunity would never have come had not the college 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 273 

existed here. ( )ur city has reason to feel proud of what has 
been done, and for what is now offered for the mental training 
of her youtli. It was fitting that the closing of the Centennial 
should deal with this subject, which is of such great concern 
to all our citizens. At this meeting President John S. Weaver 
presided. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 275 




PROF. W. H. WEIR. 



A RESUME OF A CENTURY'S EDUCATIONAL WORK 
IN SPRINGFIELD. 



BY PROF. W. H. WEIR. 



Readers of the Waverly novels will recall a character in "Old 
Mortality" who spent his life caring- for the tombs of those Cove- 
nanters of Scotland who were harried to the grave by a ruthless 
persecution. The inscriptions were cleared of moss and lichen, 
or even recut, that the deeds of Scottish martyrs might not be for- 
gotten, nor the lesson of their lives lost to later generations. This 
paper is possessed of a modest ambition — to gather from the 
scanty records, or fix in writing from the personal recollections of 
those who were actors in the early school scenes, such facts as 
will show the growth of education in Springfield. 

In the spirit of "Old Mortality.'' the task is undertaken in the 
belief that it is worthy of record if any man or woman has given 
anv time to the work of instructing youth, either in elementary 
learning or in the more advanced branches of study. Whatever 
rank this community now holds, or may, in the future, hold as a 
place of culture, the foundations were laid long ago in the little 
schools which dotted the streets and byways of our now fair city. 
Both those who builded as best they could and those who budded 
better than they knew, are deserving of honor at our hands. 
Though only for a few weeks, or months at most, the lives of 



'>76 CENTENNIAL OF 

teacher and pupil touched, neither was altog-ether the same as be- 
fore the contact. Keyond reasonable doubt every teacher was the 
means of imjiartino- a moral or mental uplift to some responsive 
spirit in th.e little i^roup that gathered about the masters and 
dames of our primitive schools, and whose names therefore are 
lovingly cherished as sweet links binding- the soul to the happy 
past. "How far that little candle throws its beams" is the proper 
fig;ure to describe the influence which these centers of radiant en- 
erg-y have had in the fomiative period of many lives, but with no- 
one to record his deeds, the fame of the wisest and best of men 
would soon become a dim and fading- tradition. The retrospect 
of one generation made Goldsmith to exclaim : 

"But past is all his fame : the very spot 
^^'here manv a time he triumphed, is forgot." 

\Mien the Xew Zealander stands on the ruins of Londort 
Bridge, philosophizing on the fallen greatness about him, let hinr 
find monuments as enduring as Time to the memory- of those 
schoolkeepers who wrought their lives into the multiplying and 
perpetuating lives of their pupils. The fondest hope is, that this- 
record mav be found so accurate that the future narrator in this 
field will not be compelled to the laborious search for materials, 
but will find a faithful outline, requiring only filling in and 
working out of details as fact or fiction may direct his purpose. 
As this paper is onlv a contribution to the educational history 
of the city, criticism is made welcome — to cut out wdiatever is- 
not authoritative, to add what is omitted, and to supnlement 
what is but partlv told, that form and permanency may be 
given to local pedagogical history. 

Schoolkeeping in Springfield goes back to the day of the log 
school, earth or i)uncheon fioor. roughly hewn slabs for seats,, 
windows glazed with oiled paper, quill pens, few maps, no charts, 
and appliances most meagre compared w^ith the lavish expendi- 
tures of todav. 

Teachers of those pioneer times had a stock of human nature 
similar to the endowments of the present-day men and women^ 
and hence the widest variations in discijiline were to be met, 
though nearlv all were firm supporters of the theory alleged to 



SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. 277 

liave been formulated by Solomon. Xot much discussion was 
made over the nature and objects of punishments; they were ad- 
jninistered, and the pupil was left to figure out for himself their 
<iifferentiations. whether remedial, punitive or corrective. Like 
■outposts of civilization, like bastions, or like beacons on surf- 
"bound shore, these little schools bore a large part in the triumph 
of intelligence over ignorance and superstition. 

Assuming that the antiquary is strongly marked in all. it will 
t)e interesting to name the buildings still standing which served 
as the "noisy mansions," or to point out the sites once occupied 
"by them. It is surprising how many places, especially in the older 
part of Springfield, were once school sites. While for a time 
woodcraft and the use of the rifle were the essentials of culture 
•demanded by a backwoods life, yet the ringing declaration : 
■^'Religion, morality and knowdedge being necessary to good 
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the 
means of education shall forever be encouraged," acted as a 
leaven in the rugged natures of the dwellers on the banks of 
Buck, and steps were taken to provide schools of the same 
■order enjoyed elsewhere in this part of Ohio. 

In the year 1806. on the site occupied by the Lagonda Na- 
tional Bank and contiguous properties, in a building of logs. 
Nathaniel Pinkered opened the first school in Springfield and has 
the credit of giving as full a course of instruction as was usual 
in those times. 

Before Mill Run was diverted from its natural bed to furnish 
power for the paper mill once operating near North street, its 
course to Buck Creek followed the line of the present Center street 
sewer. The portion of the town lying to the west of this stream 
was called "Old Mrginia." Close to the west bank of Mill Run. 
in a frame or log building about where Schaeflfer's feed and grain 
store now stands, was a school known as Smith's Academy. The 
•date of the opening of this institution cannot now be fixed, but 
was probably about 1813. Samuel Smith, the proprietor of this 
somewhat famous and well patronized school, was assisted in the 
■care of smaller pupils, by his wife, in her home near by. An 
Englishman by birth, he enjoyed the telling of marvelous tales at 
ihe expense of the rough soil and rigorous climate of New Eng- 



278 CENTENNIAL OF 

land, where he had hved before coming- to Ohio. Smith's fond- 
ness for ardent spirits, which he was at no pains to repress, is re- 
sponsible in part for the Munchausen character of these stories, 
which his serious manner of telling led his younger hearers to 
accept as veritable facts. After his career as teacher, and after 
changing his too bibulous habits, Samuel Smith became justice of 
the peace, and lived to a good old age, honored by all who knew 
him. 

The first building erected in the town exclusively for religious 
services was almost due south from Smith's school across Main 
street and oflf Center street, about west of the Zimmerman drink- 
ing fountain. This building of hewed logs, thirty feet long and 
twenty feet wide, was put up by a general subscription in 1811, 
and was used by ministers of all creeds in their casual visits. In 
1 81 8 the house was used as a school, but the names of the teach- 
ers who presided at the desk cannot be recalled. 

As closely as can now be reckoned, between the years 1824. 
and 1832, two schools independent of each other were conducted 
in a house still standing at the northeast corner of Fountain ave- 
nue and North street. The teachers were Reuben Miller, Esq.,. 
and James L. Torbert, Esq. Divided by a hallway, the west end 
was used by Mr. Miller, and in the east end ]\Ir. Torbert kept his- 
school. These were the pioneers in academy work, for both 
taught only pupils in the advanced grades. 

One of the drawing cards in Mr. Torbert's school was the 
fact that he gave instruction in English Grainrnar. Judge Tor- 
bert's dwelling was on Main street, the site covered by Governor 
Bushnell's substantial business block, and here Mrs. Torbert kept 
school for little children, whose weariness in quest of knowledge 
was slept off on a settee in her back parlor, and whose hunger was 
appeased with ginger cookies from her pantry. Several persons 
are yet living who recall the facts thus recited, and who also re- 
member the industrial branches, such as painting and embroidery, 
which were included in her system of training. 

One of Mrs. Torbert's pupils, afterward enrolled in Judge 
Torbert's school, recalls the sentence by which she was initiated 
into the mysteries of English grammar, parsing and analysis r 
"John's hand trembled." This is an interesting fact, since the 



SPRINGFIELU, OHIO. 279 

usual introduction to parsin.s^ is through an ancient case of as- 
sault and battery, wherein "James struck John." But, after all, 
it may be a i)art of the same case, for, under the circumstances, 
what would be expected of John but that his hand would tremble 
preliminary to g^ivinp^ a synthetic example of subject and object 
chant^ing- places in the sentence. 

These were the days of quill pens, with teacher as maker and 
mender, \^^lile making the rounds of his room for inspection or 
correction, he was wont to fix the damaged quills passed up to 
him. A good penknife, of proper edge and temper, w^as therefore 
an essential in the equipment of the master, and his skill and speed 
in pen cutting counted for much in the sum of his qualifications. 
One teacher had an eccentric fashion of thrusting the quills into 
his hair, till in his measured beat he came again to the pupil's seat. 
Hence by the time his round was made, his locks more and more 
resembled the "fretful porcupine." Engraved copies for the ])en- 
manshi]) exercise had not been invented, and so each teacher had 
to set the copy for his youthful scribes. This will explain, on the 
theory of heredity, why handwriting varies so, and also provides 
the cloak to cover a multitude of chirographic sins. 

It will l)e understood that all the schools of that "elder day" 
were known as "pay schools" : the idea of instruction for all at 
public expense, though advocated, did not yet meet with popular 
favor. The demand for teachers w^as often in excess of the sup- 
ply, and pulilic-spiritcd men, at times, were much at a loss how to 
keep the schocjls sup])licd with competent teachers. 

In order to provide ]:)ro]Der training for her own children, 
Mrs. Ann Warder brought from Eastern Pennsylvania into her 
own household a well-ciualified instructor, and, inviting a few 
children from family friends, opened a school in her homestead, 
then on East High street, opposite Christ Church, now owned and 
occupied by the Misses Burrows. In her later home, on East 
Main street, at the intersection of the I'ig Four railway tracks, 
Mrs. Warder conducted a school of more advanced grade, among 
whose teaching corps may be named iNliss Armstrong and Mr. 
Lewis. 

Xo teacher of the early days in Springfield will be longer or 
more lovingly remembered than Miss Eunice Strong. Of sturdy 



280 CENTENNIAL OF 

New England stock, full of right convictions, broad in mind and 
large of heart, she impressed herself upon the religious, educa- 
ional and social life of her day. When Main street was called 
South street, and before it was opened east of Spring, access to 
the ridge now called High street was by a road winding up the 
slope to its summit. On this road and below the Warder home- 
stead before referred to, in a frame structure. Miss Strong kept 
school for younger pupils. Afterward, in association with Miss 
Parsons, on the site of the Charles Ludlow and Ross Mitchell res- 
idences, she had a school for older pupils. At a later period Miss 
Strong taught older students in a frame building on Fisher street, 
on the premises of the First Presbyterian Church. Many of the 
best years of her life were devoted to this good work, and no 
period of local educational history has the marks of one personal- 
ity more deeply impressed upon it than the years Eunice Strong 
lived here. In response to questions relative to her work, nearly 
every one exclaimed: "Why, yes! Of course T rememlier iNIiss 
Strong." 

If fires kept l)u ruing on the altar of education in any one 
locality can sanctify, then the northeast corner of High street and 
Fountain avenue ought to be regarded as "holy ground." As 
early, probably, as 1836, a two-story frame stood here, and on the 
second floor Mr. Elliott and his sister kept school for youth of 
both sexes. In 1837 Miss Strong succeeded in the occupancy of 
this site with her young people. Following her, Misses Merrill 
and Tenney kept a school for girls and continued it till 1840, 
the year of the fire that destroyed much of the business prop- 
erty of the town. In 1841 Rev. Mr. Presbury, rector of the 
Episcopal Church, brought to this classic corner his select 
school for girls, which he had previously conducted at his own 
home. 

In the course of time this frame gave place to a plain brick 
building of three stories, known to the last generation as the "Bal- 
timore Grocery." Reaching the third floor by a stairway from 
High street, one found a large, well-lighted room and well 
adapted to the school uses of that time. When, after a few years' 
suspension of the Public Higli School, the course of study was 
again shaped to provide a line of advanced work, the pupils pursu- 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 281 

Ing it were separated from the other grades, and, in 1867. as a 
High School, were installed over this "Baltimore Grocery. Mr. 
Allen Armstrong and Miss Mary Harrison were the teachers in 
•charge of this school. 

A review of education in Springfield with Hannah Haas left 
out, would ignore a very long and useful career. P)efore she 
began her work in connection with Springfield Seminary, Miss 
Haas gathered a little school in a house standing on the southwest 
corner of Fountain av^enue and Columbia street. At another time 
■she had a school in the basement of the church then known as the 
Associate Reformed Presbyterian and later as the United Presby- 
terian. This house of worship, partly torn away to make room for 
]\Ir. James Carson's wholesale grocery, was recently wholly re- 
moved for the erection of Mr. E. S. Kelly's business block on 
Limestone street. After occupying a room in "Trapper's Corner" 
for a brief time. Miss Haas then used the basement of the Epis- 
copal Church, which then stood at the southwest corner of High 
and Limestone streets. At another period she taught in the house 
on the Presbyterian Church lot alluded to in connection with Miss 
Strong. Whether it grew out of the sympathy felt by the church 
for the school, or was a source of income to meet that vexatious 
question, "current expenses," so common in church finance, it will 
have been noted already in this narrative that the church edifice 
was the usual shelter of the school. 

The United Presbyterian Church was also used 1)y Rol)erl 
Black as a school of advanced grade : there are many of his stu- 
dents yet alive to attest to the excellence of his work in their be- 
half. In this same place was gathered the first pu1)lic lilirary. and 
here, too, a (lel)ating society held its meetings, which proved a val- 
uable training for many who have since been much under public 
gaze. Robert Black remained long a citizen of this place and was 
Recorder of the County for a term of years. Among others who 
used as a schoolroom the Episcopal Church were ^Irs. Lowndes, 
Miss Lavinia Baird, Laura and \^irginia Miller, all of whom con- 
ducted schools for little children. 

Miss Carrie Baird has the uni(|ue distinction of having con- 
ducted in her own home a school for little ones who were unable 
to pay the fees usually asked : prompted to do this simply as a 



282 CENTENNIAL OF 

means of doing what good she could. ^Nliss Lavinia Baird at a 
later date gave instruction in a room over the tea store now on 
Fountain avenue. These lahors were about 1858. 

Where Central Methodist E^piscojial Church now is was the 
site of a school kept by Miss Catherine Haas, sister of ^liss Han- 
nah Haas before named in this narrative. 

Miss Elizabeth Parker at a later date conducted a school on 
the site of Nathaniel Pinkered's early labors. 

A very interesting group of schools was located in the east- 
ern portion of the town, then quite in the suburbs. Fifty years or 
more ago the tract east of Walnut street and south of Main was 
farm, forest and orchard. Near the intersection of Walnut and 
High streets was a frame structure in which an English gentleman 
(particular emphasis on gentleman) and his estimable wife kept 
school for all grades, including instruction in languages and 
higher branches. So long ago manual and industrial training 
were in vogue, for under Mrs. Miller's oversight sewing and em- 
broidery were taught the girls : and women are still living who 
remember the instruction — and speak of the skill attained by 
several of the pupils. Mr. Miller is remembered for the interest 
he took and inspired in his students in the study of astronomy. 
When Mr. Miller had removed to a new school near the corner of 
Main and Spring streets, Miss Vicory succeeded him in the use of 
the building which was a part of her grandfather Merryiield Vic- 
ory's farm. Here also Miss Peet had a school afterward. "Kind 
and faithful" is the brief but expressive eulogy pronounced vtpon 
the memory of these teachers by one of the pupils. 

Across Mill Run, on the site of the East street shops, and 
reached from the Vicory farm by a foot log, lay the little school 
presided over by Miss Emma Way. This one seems to have been 
the most remote from the center of the town. 

Three places are identified as the scenes of the labors of Mr. 
Orin Stimson, a pioneer in educational matters in Springfield : 
North Spring street, a few rods north of Columbia street, on the 
west side ; South Limestone street, near the former site of the As- 
sociate Reformed or United Presbyterian Church ; northeast cor- 
ner of Columbia and Factory streets. There are many who recall 
the days spent in Mr. Stimson's school and attest his ability as a 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 28S 

school man. He was one of the victims of the cholera in its visita- 
tion about half a century ago. 

The lot now occupied by the mansion of Mr. John Foos has 
many scholastic associations. Here in a large square frame house, 
Mrs. Anna Foos held a school during the summer terms of two 
years. Here also for one winter Mr. Cadwallader, and the next 
Mr. Buchanan served the rising young idea. It is a matter of re- 
gret that the details of this service, both as to facts and dates, are 
so meagre. 

Sam Lawton, of Miss Stowe's "Old Town Folks," was wont 
to say that a pretty face on the singer's seat, in church, was a 
means of grace. Apropos of this, there is a record that in the 
forest still surrounding the E. W. Ross homestead on East 
High street there nestled a little school presided .over by a 
woman of accomplishments, to which were added unusual 
charms of personal beauty ; declared by one admirer to have 
been the most beautiful woman of her time. Local history 
should not fail, then, to place on its roll the name of Miss Mi- 
nerva Aldrich. Miss Aldrich was followed in the conduct of 
this school by Miss Gunning. 

The records of many schools are so scant that the narrative 
reads like a page from a city directory ; yet in order to preserve 
local traditions and history, these teachers will be set down in this 
chronicle of one phase of our city's life. 

Miss Smith, later wife of Judge Rodgers and mother of Pro- 
fessor Henry G. Rodgers, taught on the site of the Bowman 
Building, opposite the Teegarden residence on West Main street. 

Mrs. Woodward, mother of the late Librarian Woodward, 
taught where the Farm and Fireside publishing house now 
stands. 

In a stone house removed to erect the business house of Con- 
rad Nagel, as long ago as 1832-5, Mrs. Donohue had a school for 
little children. Here, too. Miss Finley and later Mrs. Anna Foos 
wrought on plastic natures. So few of the schoolrooms used in 
those "elder days" still stand, that any, which survive the demands 
of business for room to expand, should be pointed out as inter- 
esting links between the past and present. The red brick cottage 
on West Columbia street, under the shadow of St. John Germaa 



384 CBNITENNIAL OF 

Church, was one of those "noisy mansions" where, with varying 
tides of fortune, master and youth struggled with the problems 
then confronting them. Rev. Mr. Pingree, Mr. William Wilson, 
and probably Miss Ebersole are some of those who taught school 
in this house. 

Close to the track of the Little Miami Railway, between Cen- 
ter and Factory streets, stood the school of Miss Doolittle, which 
is remembered as one of the most popular and flourishing schools 
of that era of "pay schools." 

Few, even of the older citizens, remember personally Mr. 
Isaac Lancey, who enjoys the distinction of being the first custo- 
dian of the first public library. Mr. Lancey had a school on Foun- 
tain avenue where Unnon Hall now stands, in a two-story frame 
house set back from the line of the street. The building on West 
Washington street now used by the National Biscuit Company, 
and formerly the Universalist Church, was the school room of 
Mr. James Wilson and also of Rev. Mr. Pingree, who was also a 
pastor of the church. 

It is interesting to note that in many of the schools last named 
the Bible was the chief reading book, and formal instruction in 
the catechisms of the churches was a part of the system. 

The educational advantages of Springfield ere long began to 
attract attention from beyond her bounds, and created a demand 
for boarding schools for both sexes. About 1844 such an enter- 
prise for girls was started by Rev. Mr. Moore in a building known 
as the "Linn," where the Gotwald-Zimmerman edifice now stands. 
This school was maintained for some time, remembered by many 
for the public examinations and literary exercises, which were 
held in the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Moore afterward removed 
to Granville, Ohio, in charge of a college. 

Perhaps no name filled so large a place in public esteem as 
that of Rev. Chandler Robbins, who was identified in so many 
ways with the education of Springfield's youth. He was first 
called to the principalship of the Springfield High School, as the 
institution still standing on East High street was then called, and 
served acceptably five years. After an absence of three years in 
the South, Mr. Robbins returned to Springfield and in 1848 estab- 
lished Greenwav Institute, a boarding school for boys. This 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 285- 

school was first located on the Foos property, before mentioned, 
and is said to have taken its name from the beautiful grounds sur- 
rounding the school. 

In 185 1 the building on East Main street, now forming a 
part of the City Hospital, was erected as the home of his school, 
to which boys were attracted from distant places. Mr. Robbins 
continued this institute till his death in 187 1. In addition to his 
labors in his own school, this tireless man was successively rector 
of the Episcopal Church, a member of the Board of Education, 
Superintendent of Schools, Exammer of Teachers. 

On this roll of worthies must be inscribed the names of Miss 
Matilda Stout, who kept a school at the northeast corner of Fac- 
tory and Main streets ; Mr. ]\IcWilliams, William Reid and his 
sister, Jane Reid, Rev. William McGookin, and Rev. John Rowe, 
all of whom spent many years of their lives in the cause of popu- 
lar education. 

This brings the narrative of early education in Springfield 
within reach of published and documentary records, chief of 
which "Howe's Historical Collections" and "Beers' History of 
Clark County" give ample details of the growth of the public 
schools and other institutions of learning in our midst. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

The system of graded schools in the State was instituted at 
Cincinnati in 1836 by a special law. An act known as the Akron 
law, in 1847, provided for a board of six directors, who were to 
have full control over all the schools in the town of Akron. The 
provisions of this act, extended in 1848 to incorporated towns and 
cities, were further cmliodied in a general law in 1849, allowing 
any town of two hundred inhabitants to organize under the 
Akron law. The city records show that in 1850 two citizens 
were appointed as managers of the public schools, which then 
seem to have been conducted as private enterprises supported by 
subscription in part, and in part by an apportionment of public 
funds. In March, 185 1, the people, by vote, decided to "build two 
schoolhouses for the purpose of common schools." In February, 
1853, a report to the City Council shows the purchase of two lots. 



^86 CENTENNIAL OF 

■one the present site of the Western School, the other at the bridge 
on East High street, and known to the past generation as the "Old 
Eastern School." January, i8s4. niarks the approval of plans for 
two schoolhouses and the awarding of contracts to build the same. 
In April, 1855, the people selected as the first Board of Education, 
Chandler Robbins, Joseph Brown and C. H. Williams. Arrange- 
ments were at once made to provide for instruction in the Ger- 
man language, which has been the policy of the Board ever since, 
and also to continue the maintenance of schools for colored youth, 
and did provide everv facility up to the abolition of separate 
schools. 

The first Superintendent of Schools was F.W. Hurt, and the 
first Principals were John Fulton and Daniel Berger, with R. W. 
Morris and Samuel Wheeler as assistants. Of these, John Fulton, 
Daniel Berger and R. W. Morris are yet living (1901). Some of 
the women composing the first corps of teachers still live. James 
Cowles succeeded Mr. Hurt in the Superintendency, and was 
followed by Rev. Chandler Robbins. For some years there- 
after the office of Superintendent of Instruction was discon- 
tinued, members of the Board of Education being designated 
in their turn to act as agents. At such times the principals 
seem to have acted as superintendents in their respective dis- 
tricts. 

For a few years, in addition to actual teaching, the Superin- 
tendent devoted a stated portion of his time to supervision of all 
the schools. In such capacity were the labors of Charles B. Rug- 
gles, Allen Armstrong, John F. Reinmund and Charles H. Evans. 
With the incumbency of J. A. Jackson, the entire time of the 
Superintendent was given to supervision. Since 1875 the office 
of Superintendent of Schools has been filled by W. J. White, A. 
E. Taylor, William H. Weir, Carey Boggess and John S. Weaver. 
When the latest published record closed, in 1880, the schools of 
the city were housed in the Central School, including the High 
School, the Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern, formerly 
the Springfield Female Seminary. The needs of the colored chil- 
dren were supplied by a commodious building on Pleasant street. 
Two single-room schools for little children — one on the Court 
House lot and the other, still standing, on the lot of the Southern 
School — were discontinued some time before. 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 287 

In public school history since 1880, change and growth are 
marked. Separate schools for white and neg-ro children were dis- 
continued in 1887. New school Iniildings have been put up on 
Shaffer street, Dibert avenue, Clifton street (and afterward en- 
larged), East High street (owing to the irrei)arable damage by 
the flood of 1886), Pearl street. Northern (and later enlarged), 
Lagonda, Gray's. Lagonda avenue. North street. Oakland, Frey's, 
and High School annex. 

THE SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL. 

This corporation was authorized by act of the General As- 
sembly of Ohio, March i, 1834. and soon thereafter the trustees 
selected the site on East High street where is still standing the 
iDuilding erected by popular subscription. Milo G. Willianis or- 
ganized the school in 1835, and remained its principal till 1841. 
Upon his resignation Chandler Robbins became the head master 
and continued in office till 1845. In September, 1841, a proposi- 
tion was made to the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church to transfer the High School property to that body, on con- 
dition that a school of high grade be maintained therein. The 
■offer was accepted, and, by act of March 7. 1842, the Ohio Con- 
ference High School was incorporated. After Mr. Robbins' re- 
tirement. Rev. Solomon Howard, Rev. John W. Weekly, E. G. 
Dial, Esq.. Rev. W. J. Ellsworth, Rev. J. \Y. Herron, in succes- 
sion, managed the affairs of the school until 1869, when the prop- 
erty was leased to the Board of Education of the city for public 
school purposes. 

The High School on East High street, after two years' use by 
the Board of Education as the home of the Public High School, 
passed into private control, schools for advanced grades being 
conducted in succession by Mrs. Ruth A. Worthington, Misses 
Longwell and Talcott ; now Miss Anna B. Johnson conducts a 
primary school on this historic spot. 

THE SPRINGFIELD FEMALE SEMINARY. 

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, as early as 1849. liad founded for 
young women a small select school, which was so well supported 



288 



CENTENNIAL OF 



that enlargement of its influence became imperative. Accord- 
ingly, in 1852, a charter was obtained. The school, which had its 
home in the First Presbyterian Church, was soon after installed in 
a commodious building which stood where the Northern School, 
now is, and commenced a long and useful career under the charge 
of John A. Smith, and under the auspices and moral support of 
the Presbyterian Church of the State. Mr. Smith was followed 
by Rev. L. H. Christian in 1854, who in 1855 yielded to Rev. 
Charles Sturdevant. On account of debt and its consequent em- 
barrassments, Mr. Sturdevant assumed the liabilities of the insti- 
tution and the corporate ownership became private. In 1857 Rev. 
James L. Rodgers became owner of one-half interest, and in i86a 
Rev. Henry R. Wilson bought Rev. ]\lr. Sturdevant's share. 
After five years Rev. Mr. Rodgers, by purchase, became sole 
owner and head of instruction. In 1871 the property was sold ta 
the city for public school uses. 

The Springfield Female Seminarv has given place to the 
Northern Public School building. 




Old Wittenbers College. Krected 1840-51. 

WITTENBERG COLLEGE. 

The Legislature of Ohio, March 11, 1845, incorporated Wit- 
tenberg College under the control of the English Lutheran Synods 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



289 



of Ohio, and oli November 3, 1845, i^i the basement story of the 
First Lutheran Church, Rev. Ezra Keller, D. D., the first Presi- 
dent, organized the first classes. During the year 1846 the east 
wing of the old college building was built, and in 1850-51 the 
middle and west portions were erected. Dr. Keller died De- 
cember 29, 1848, beloved and mourned by all who knew him. 
August 14, 1849, Rev. Samuel Sprecher was installed as Presi- 
dent, and served long and faithfully until the infirmities of age 
and feeble health compelled his retirement. He resigned in 
1874, and was succeeded by Rev. J. B. Helwig, D. D., whose 
strong administration continued to the year 1882. 






wmMm 




■iii :h< 



Recitation Hall, Wittenberg College. Krected I8!S3-8<>. 

Dr. S. A. Ort succeeded Dr. J- H. Helwig in the presidency 
of Wittenberg College in 1882, and was himself succeeded in 1900 
by Dr. J. M. Ruthrauflf. Women were admitted to all the college 



390 CENTENNIAL OF 

classes on equal terms with men in 1873, which date also marks 
the disappearance from the recitation room of slippers and dress- 
ing gowns as articles of male attire. Wittenberg ended the first 
half of the centur}^ with one building — the dormitory in which all 
departments w-ere housed. She ends the second half of the cen- 
tury with Recitation Hall, built in 1883; Ferncliff Hall, in 1888; 
Hamma Divinity Hall, in 1889, and Zimmerman Library, in 1891. 
Large additions to the endowments were made in 1866 and 1874, 
to which have been added the Alumni Endowment in 1886 and 
the Harter bequest in 1892. 

In addition to the schools named, it must not be overlooked 
that the churches in several instances have maintained parochial 
schools for the instruction of their youth. From the organization 
of the churches of Roman Catholic faith, such schools haye been 
kept, at first, in charge of lay teachers, and later under the care of 
Sisters of Charity. St. Raphael School came under the tuition of 
the Sisters in 1877, St. Bernard in 1879, ^"<^1 ^^t. Joseph from the 
organization in 1884. The Zion Lutheran Church has always 
maintained such a school under lay teachers, and using the Ger- 
man language. 

A large field is covered by the work done in schools of the 
commercial type, which form a very important factor in Spring- 
field's educational development. The Williss School of Short- 
hand, established in 1880, has recently enlarged its scope and thus 
extended its influence. F. M. Porch, W. F. Bevitt and H. FL 
Goodfellow have likewise been instrumental in equipping a mul- 
titude of men and women for lives of usefulness and profit. W. 
S. Grim, Edward Harrison and J. W. Van Sickel, for longer or 
shorter periods, had schools for the training of both sexes in 
practical business methods. The largest place, however, is 
filled by the Nelson lUisiness College, established here in 1881, 
and kept up continuously, fitting hundreds of men and w'omen 
for places of usefulness and responsibility. It may be timely 
in this centenary of our commercial life to take an inventory of 
the growth of some of our institutions since the published rec- 
ord closed in 1880. 

The writer's purpose is completed. There remains only his 
sfrateful acknowledgments of the kindness of the two score or 



SPRINGFIEL.D OHIO. 291 

more of citizens who siil)mitted to interviews, unlocking memory's 
storehouse and spreadinj^ its treasures to the view of a ti^eneration 
which ought to vakie the work done in the past. As were tlie 
pedagogues of the old school, so we, 

"All are architects of Fate, 

Working in these walls of Time : 

Some with massive deeds and great, 
Some with ornaments of rhvme." 



"Let us do our work as well, 

Both the unseen and the seen, 
Make the house, where God may dwell, 

Beautiful, entire, and clean." 

"Knowledge being necessary to good government," and 
"Education the chea]) defense of nations," without ai)ology we 
may exclaim — 

"Humanity, with all its fears, 
With all its hopes of future years. 
Is hanirincr breathless on thv fate. 



"Our hearts, our h;)])es, are all with thee; 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears. 
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. 
Are all with tb.ee — are all with thee.'' 



292 



CENTENNIAL OF 

X 



The I^og" Cabin was one of the interesting features of the 
Centennial. It was visited by thousands during- the week, and 
pleased all alike. It was under the care of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, who spared no effort to make it a ])lace at- 
tractive and interesting. The historian of the local organization, 
Miss Mary Cassilly, has presented the paper below, naming some 
of the relics and recording those who aided in making the Log 
Cabin so popular: 




MISS MARY CASSILLY. 



The Springfield Centennial Anniversary was cele1)rated at 
the Fair Grounds, in Springfield, Ohio, the first week in August. 
1901. An old-fashioned log cabin was built by the Executive 
Committee, of which former Governor Asa S. Bushnell was 
chairman. The Springfield Daughters were invited by the His- 
torical Society to take charge of the cabin, and they furnished it 
throughout with articles over a hundred years old, and interesting 
relics, rare old china, a grandfather's clock, rush-bottom chairs. 
saddle-l)ags, a tester bed, a quaint cradle in which Mrs. Asa S. 
Bushnell was rocked. A number of mothers who came into the 
cabin with babes in their arms, put them in the cradle, just to say 
their baby had been in the cradle in which a Governor's wife had 
been rocked. The fireplace, with the cooking utensils of a cen- 
tury ago, was complete in every detail ; in fact, nothing was omit- 
ted in the cabin — even strings of dried apples, peppers and herbs 



294 CEiNTENNIAL OF 

were hanginf^ on the rafters, and red wolf skins on the walls. The 
cabin looked comfortable and home-like, and in the evening, 
when the candles were lighted, was very quaint and attractive. 

Mrs. J. S. Elliott, Chairman of the Furnishing Committee, 
deserves great credit for 'lier untiring efforts. Mrs. Elliott was 
ably assisted in soliciting articles and arranging the cabin by the 
following Daughters: Mrs. E. W. Ross, Mrs. Asa S. Bushnell, 
Mrs. S. F. McGrew, Mrs. A. P. L. Cochran, Mrs. William Mur- 
phy, Mrs. ]I. H. Moores. 

Military Day was a great success ; over ten thousand persons 
were on the grounds. The guests of the day were Governor Nash 
and Colonel James Kilbourne. Former Governor Asa S. Bushnell 
said in his address that it was the first time in the history of Ohio 
that an ex-Governor, Governor and the next Governor were pres- 
ent at the same meeting. 

Rcccptiiui — Mrs. James Kilbnurne, Regent of the Columbus 
Chapter, and a guest of Mrs. William S. Thomas, was at the 
cal)in from 3 until 5 o'clock, where an informal reception, which 
had been arranged by Mrs. A. S. Ihishnell, was held by the 
Daughters. 

Tea Tabic — A deligluful feature of the Log Cabin was the 
tea table, which was graccfull}' i')resided over by our Vice-Regent, 
Mrs. E. W. Ross, and her assistants, who wore becoming caps, 
kerchiefs, and Swiss aprons, and served tea every afternoon. 
Quite a large sum was realized by the sale of souvenir cups and 
saucers. 

Our cliarming Regent, Mrs. H. H. Sevs. and the following 
Daughters assisted in different ways in the Log Cabin : Mrs. E. 
W. Ross, Mrs. J. S. Elliott. Mrs. Asa S. Bushnell, Mrs. H. C. 
Dimond, Mrs. C. E. Thomas, Mrs. H. H. Moores, Mrs. J. W. 
Murphy, Mrs. J. K. l^.lack, Mrs. Blee, Mrs. Cochran, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Ludlow, Mrs. Oscar T. Martin, Mrs. Will Cartmell, Mrs. C. 
C. Fried, Mrs. E. W. Plaisted, Mrs. W. W. Keifer, Mrs. Robbins, 
Mrs. Ingram, Mrs. R. S. Thompson, Miss Hollenbeck, Miss Nelle 
Hollenbeck, Miss Troupe, Miss Crigler, Miss Cassilly. 

The Maypole Dance, which was arranged by Miss Anna 
Hollenbeck and Miss Kinney, took place on a platform near the 
Log Cabin several times during the week, and was perfectly 



SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 395 

danced by the following- lads and lassies : Mary Moores, Mar- 
e^aret Kepsay, Margaret Elliott, Jane Martin, Kathcrine Kelly, 
Asa Dimond, Douglas Dimond, Warder Norton, William Corry, 
Ben Elliott, jack Frey. The Queen, Miss Mary I5uckinghani, 
said it would be interesting to tell her grandchildren that she was 
Queen of the Centennial in 1901. 



There are nian\' interests in S])ringfield beside those men- 
tioned in the foregoing papers, that were deserving of si)ecific no- 
tice during Centennial week, but the lack of time alone prevented 
their presentation. A more extended account of our fine Public 
Library, its faithful administration, and its great good to the peo- 
ple of our city ; a detailed account of our three benevolent Homes, 
and the fine work they are doing for young and old ; of wdiat 
has been done by our residents in music and art ; something about 
our beautiful and comfortable private homes, and other important 
factors in our city life, would have added interest to these rec- 
ords if time and space had permitted this to be done. The facts 
and figures presented by the various writers cost, in many cases, 
much time and labor, and they bring to view the great forward 
movements that our cit\' has made from its ])lanting one hundred 
years ago. 

The weather during the week of the celebration proved to be 
very favorable. The exercises were unhindered by storm or rain. 
Large numbers of i)eople came and enjoyed the various papers 
and addresses from the beginning to the end. It had been prophe- 
sied by many that a large deficit in the expenses would l)e sure to 
follow the close of the week, but fortunately all such ]M-ophecies 
were without foundation. The Executive Committee, composed 
of Governor A. S. lUishnell. of whom the i)eo])le of Springfield 
are justly proud because of his most excellent record in the ad- 
ministration of the affairs of the great State of Ohio, and who 
has always manifested much interest in all that pertains to the 
welfare of our city, and of Mr. John Foos and Mr. D. O. Fox, 
both experts in the management of financial matters, were able to 
report a balance in the treasury, which was generously turned 
over to the Clark Count\- Historical Societv. Tielieving that it 



296 CENTENNIAL OE* 

would be a matter of not only present, but of future interest, the 
final report of the Executive Committee is here o^iven, thus closino- 
the account of a most happy occasion in the history of Springfield : 



Springfield, Ohio, November 14, 1901. 
Final report of Executive Committee to the General Commit- 
tee having in charge the Springfield Centennial Celebration, 
August 4 to 10, showing receipts and disbursements of all moneys 
paid into the treasury of said Committee : 

RECEIPTS. 

Sale of privileges $ 467 00 , 

Subscriptions 1,326 08 

D. A. R. sales in Cabin 224 13 

Stimell & Reed entertainment 619 05 

Sale of furniture, stamps, etc 21 25 

Sale of Log Cabin 60 00 

$2,717 51 

DISBURSEMENTS. 



Clark County Agricultural Society building. .$ 600 00 

Office expenses, furniture, etc 189 00 

Advertising 321 78 

Police 240 67 

Music 375 20 

Log Cabin 220 85 

Soldiers' transportation and subsistence 108 50 

Souvenirs, sold by ladies 45 00 

Sprinkling grounds 72 70 

Livery ..." 42 00 

Transportation, Home children 21 47 

Incidentals 277 45 

Historical Societv 202 89 

$2,717 51 

Respectfully sumbitted, 

ASA S. BUSHNELL, Chairman. 

JOHN FOOS, 

D. O. FOX, Treasurer. 



FEB 7 1903 



